


Changing the Flow

by kaiju-and-kyojin (thefourarmedtitan), thefourarmedtitan



Series: Changing the Flow (and related works) [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Non-Binary Hange Zoë, Romantic Angst, Romantic Fluff, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 08:36:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2766662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefourarmedtitan/pseuds/kaiju-and-kyojin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefourarmedtitan/pseuds/thefourarmedtitan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason commented on Insomniacs: Oh wow! :D This was fantastic! :3 Loved it!<br/>WOuld you do a multi-chapter story set in this slight AU? :3 Please?</p><p>Alternate universe in which Annie Leonhart abandons her mission to capture the Coordinate after an unintentional revelation about her past. Follows canon events, with some differences.</p><p>Contains spoilers for all manga chapters before and after 60</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Come With Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JasonVUK666](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonVUK666/gifts).
  * Inspired by [To You 2,000 Years From Now](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1052149) by [without_mission](https://archiveofourown.org/users/without_mission/pseuds/without_mission). 



> So since I've been wanting to make this for a while, I'll be leaving little writers notes for the first time! I hope you all enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is a story I've been wanting to write for some time, I'll be leaving Chapter Notes for the first time!

Year: 850  
  
"You're too strong to just run from the fight, Annie." Armin appeared like a ghost behind Annie, who was walking down the outdoor corridor and thinking over the earlier gear inspection. Biting her lip, Annie turned to face the boy who kept talking once he knew he had her attention, "I know you know that, and for someone who pointed out at the beginning of training that our system is backwards, I’m surprised you don’t question it."  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Armin," keeping her eyes as neutral as possible, Annie continued, "I'm just a normal girl in the military who just saw something unspeakable happen to her comrades. Now, if you'd excuse me, I have to clean my fellow trainees off the streets. This system may be backwards, but it works for someone like me just fine. I just want a safe and secure life, that’s all. I don’t want to die anytime soon.”  
"What about Mina," Armin's eyes began shining with withheld tears, "do you think she wanted to die then? When you saved Connie and Sasha with Mikasa in the armory, I’m almost certain the Titan Mikasa killed was the same one that ate Mina."  
"As long as the damn thing is dead that’s enough for me. Tell Mikasa that, she was friends with Mina too." Looking around for a second to make sure they were alone, Annie turned around and placed her hands over Armin’s, "Join the Garrison instead, it's safer and you can shoot down Titans with cannons instead of risking your neck with the 3D gear. You know yourself that it’s the safer option."  
"I know it’s safer but it’s not the best option, I’ve always had my mind set on the Scouts." Twisting his wrists to hold Annie’s hands, Armin continued, “You’re going with the safer option, are you sure it’s the best option?”  
Chuckling softly, Annie retorted tauntingly, "You sound like Eren did when we graduated, when he was yelling at Jean for the umpteenth time.  
"That’s because he has a point, despite his misgivings he is very good at telling right from wrong." All Armin received in response that time was a quiet hum as Annie began running both her thumbs over the backs of his hands, “What about your hometown? You said you came from the same place as Reiner and Bertolt and they’re joining the Scouting Legion, why won’t you?”  
"I've given up on going back there," pulling her hands away, Annie began to walk away again. “Speaking of those two, they both ranked above me, same as Mikasa. Like I said before, I’m not necessary to you.”  
"You are necessary to me, Annie." At that Annie paused, her back to Armin, “I can tell the only reason you weren’t ranked above those two was because you didn’t put in as much effort. Ymir did the same thing, but to ensure Krista a spot in the top ten. Why didn’t you use all of your strength? You would have been sure to get special treatment in the interior.”  
"I have my reasons for the things I do, blondie.” The amount of questions being asked of her were starting to wear thin on Annie’s nerves, “I don’t want to be some stand-out pupil, everyone who joins for my reason is just playing soldier. I always hear people calling the Military Police a waste, so why bother wasting effort when I don’t need to use all of it?” Brushing a stray bang away from her eye, Annie looked back and faced Armin, who hadn’t stepped forward since her retreat, “That’s how the MPs operate, the bare minimum is more than enough.”  
The explanation was nothing new to Armin, the backwards habits of the military were something he had figured out plowing the fields before he joined the 104th and had further studied with the help of his comrades, Annie included. “Is there nothing in your hometown worth going back for? If not for all of humanity, there must be something that matters to you there!” The final pleas Armin gave were heard by Annie but she said nothing to acknowledge them, she simply looked at Armin with her face shadowed by her pulled-up hood before turning away and walking off with her gaze turned to the ground. In the direction she walked, groups of Garisson and ex-trainees were gathering near supply wagons to prepare for Trost’s cleanup.  
****************  
_'Is there nothing in your hometown? There must be something that matters to you there!’_ Armin's words played like a song of mockery through Annie's head. Sitting against her bed's headboard she fiddled with the long and darkly stained strip of gray cloth in her hands. Mulling over her thoughts, Annie barely noticed as Sasha hustled past her to the bathroom with Krista following close behind. Ymir walked without even a slight sense of urgency in her step behind the two and stopped entirely once the sound of retching filled the room, which had a slow trickle of dreary teens filing in from the door in a slow and sullen march.  
"Thanks for the help today, friend." Ymir flopped onto the bed next to Annie's and tugged rubbed her hands, which had pale and red marks that appeared to have been left by tight gloves. "Good thing you weren’t too close to anyone, princess,” Ymir’s taunting had become something Annie had grown used to, and that made up the bulk of their interactions, “otherwise you might’ve started crying, if you can even do that that is.”  
"Shouldn't you be tending to your princess?" Annie folded up the cloth and put it in the small satchel at the foot of her bed, "I saw her go with Sasha to the bathroom, maybe you should join them, figured you would have gone chasing after her by now anyway," another round of hacking filled the room and the two girls turned to face the bathroom which Sasha was exiting, leaning what seemed to be her entire body weight on Krista. "How cute, she must have missed you and decided to come back."  
"Screw off," heaving herself up and over the side of the bed with a deep huff. "Hey, potato girl, finally get all the food out of you?" Sasha was unable to respond as she was currently hobbling off to her bunk where she climbed on and quickly and curled into a tight ball on the hard mattress, "I'll take that as a yes."  
"Ymir!" Krista shoved the taller girl back from Sasha’s bed, "don't be so mean, Sasha just saw something she should have never seen -"  
"So did the rest of us!" Ymir cut her off and loomed over the shorter blonde, "she's the only one whose bent over a toilet pumping out her guts, everyone else is keepin’ it to themselves."  
"Maybe you two should too," Annie stretched her legs out, still sitting up in bed. "Your little spat is ridiculous compared to what everyone's coming back from," A swell of quietly agreeing voices rose up to back Annie up. "Get to bed, we're finishing the cleanup later tonight."  
The duo bit their tongues as the room went back to its earlier noise of shuffling bodies and sheets. Perking up, Krista noticed Annie's hair was still tied up, "Oh, Annie, let me get that."  
Walking over, Krista sat behind Annie and began undoing her hair without a word of complaint from the stoic girl. Absentmindedly, Krista’s hand brushed the back of Annie's neck, triggering the half-asleep girl's eyes to snap open and turn her upper body around to toss Krista over her shoulder and into the side of the empty bed next to her on a reflexive defense.  
"What the fuck, Leonhart?!" Ymir hurried over to where Krista lay clutching her shoulder and carried her out of the barracks bridal style. The ones who noticed Ymir's shout and Annie's outburst regarded the blonde with a mix of confused and angered expressions. After a few moments in which Annie’s head swam in a flurry of foggy images, her now barely open blue eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out onto her bed.  
"The hell's her deal?"  
"She's always been a bitch, don't pay her any mind."  
"Poor Krista, I hope she's ok..."  
****************  
_"-your dad is always on your side," the tight embrace of her father loosened as he held Annie in front of him. "I'm going to help you with your mission, your mission is all that matters." Opening the leather case, the blond man pulled out a long needle and filled it with a purple fluid. "Give me your arm, Annie." Recounting how her father stressed obedience but nervous as to what would happen next, Annie tentatively held out her arm and her father rubbed it with a dampened cloth before slipping in the needle fully and pressing the end. Once all of the liquid was pushed out into Annie’s arm, the young girl was instantly enveloped in a blinding light and thick smoke which forced her father back several steps.  
Through the haze, a giant pair of hands reached out and scooped up the tear-faced man. Slowly, his upper body was forced into the grinning mouth of a slouching giant. With a small crack, the upper body of Annie's father vanished and his legs fell to the ground along with his right hand. With a high-pitched howl, the Titan fell with a crack like thunder and an outpouring of white steam from its neck which rose with a hiss into the dark night sky. Ungracefully, Annie fell out of the bloody gash on the Titan's neck and ran to where her father once stood. Once she reached his remains, the blonde knelt next to the bloody hand and tore part of the sleeve that was on the remaining piece of her father’s arm into one and walked off with the fabric in her hands, the giant skeleton falling apart in a cloud of steam behind her. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stage is set! If anyone's wondering how "Krista" was able to do that, remember she did the same to Eren in chapter 62. Feel free to share and leave kudos on this work!


	2. Decisive Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came quicker than I expected, must be because I'm so excited about this AU! Enjoy!

Opening her eyes with a quiet gasp, Annie took in her surroundings. Sunset appeared to be just about finished and she was laying in what appeared to be the infirmary. "Oh, Ms. Leonhart, good you’re awake." The nurse walked up to Annie with a clipboard and pen in hand. "You missed dinner, but you can have food here if you want to," Annie shook her head no, which the nurse wrote down on her clipboard. "The funeral is set to begin in about half of an hour, you can go if you want or stay here, the choice is yours."  
"Thank you," Annie stood up and began to walk to the door. Once she was in the hall, Annie noticed the moisture trickling down her face. Wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand, the blonde realized she must have been crying in her sleep. Roughly, Annie rubbed away any remaining signs of her tears and hustled to the open area, where the remains of the dead soldiers were being piled by Garrison soldiers wearing bandanas around their faces.  
****************  
Walking out into the courtyard and the gradually dimming light of dusk, Annie was greeted by the backs of Jean, Connie, Sasha, Krista and Ymir who were all looking silently at the pile of bloodied and torn corpses laying in a small area cordoned off by a square of wood fencing in front of them. Krista sported a large white patch on her right soldier from where she had been hit by the bed after Annie's earlier toss. Noticing the door closing behind Annie, Ymir turned her head around and shot a glare when she saw who was approaching, "You know, I figured the victim should rest longer than the assaulter."  
"Can it, Ymir," a quartet of Garrison soldiers quietly came out of the main tower of the compound with a pair of large jugs of gas. Once they had reached the mound of cadavers the gas was tossed out of the jugs onto the bodies before being set alight. Just as quickly as they had come, the Garrison soldiers left the somber group of teens with the now burning bodies. Jean began walking around the bonfire until he found what he was looking for, a torn body whose ripped and bloodied clothes were just beginning to be blackened and burned by the tongues of flame. The rest of the group followed more slowly, taking in the gruesome sight of their friends' burning remains.  
Unable to take it any longer, Connie collapsed to his knees and began sobbing violently but never took his eyes away from the morbid inferno. Sasha also began crying, but remained standing as hiccupping sobs racked her body. "Hey guys," Jean's croaking voice joined the symphony of crackling flames and crying, "did you decide where you want to go? I've made my choice," Connie barely turned his neck to face the standing teen, "I'm... I'm gonna join the Scouts!" Once the words had been choked out, Jean broke down and fell to his knees beside Connie, tears streaking down his cheeks and his hand clutched in a tight fist.  
****************  
The remaining 104th cadets stood in rows before a wooden stage where a tall blond man clad in Scout Regiment garb stood, an air of power emanating from his strong figure. "I am Commander Erwin Smith of the Scout Regiment, and I am here to ask for your help," no words were uttered by the depressed company of trainees, "first, I would like to thank you all for your service at Trost, your bravery in the cleanup operation and in combat is unparalleled by any class in our history. During the battle of Trost as you are all aware, your fellow cadet Eren Yeager was revealed to possess a special ability when he emerged from an Abnormal Titan." At the mention of Eren, Armin and Mikasa both perked up along with the majority of the class, Eren’s new abilities a major topic of interest amongst the trainees. "As of now, he is under our own Lance Corporal Levi's protection and is doing well. Eren has already given us hope besides his role in reclaiming Trost," Now the entire group’s attention was grabbed, Erwin’s crisp and clear voice carrying across the courtyard. "He has revealed that his basement in Shiganshina holds secrets that his father knew about the Titans' possible weaknesses and Eren's own abilities." Now the whole crowd was abuzz with rumbling whispers.  
"Weaknesses? Are they for real?"  
"So if we get to that basement, we can mow down those bastards!"  
"Shhhh! He's still talking!"  
Waiting for the murmurs to die down again, Erwin continued, "This brings me to my request of you. We cannot reach Shiganshina without the assistance of more able-bodied soldiers due to its location, and with the gate at Trost shut down, we will need to start all of our progress over from Karanese District." Once this fact was brought up, looks of unease once again fell upon the faces of the 104th. In the corner of the stage, a bespectacled person, also in a Scouts uniform, waved at Erwin to signify that his time was up. "I'll finish this with a question, if someone told you to die, would you?"  
_'Interesting,' ___Annie mused silently, _'he starts off with positivity, and closes with negativity, not the best strategy considering the crowd here.' ___Realizing Erwin's speech had finished, a huge portion of the 104th left, leaving only a few people, who looked abandoned and afraid without the number of people shielding them from Erwin’s piercing gaze.  
"Um, A-Annie," Bertolt spoke up from in front of the blonde, looking over his shoulder at her with eyes widened in confusion, "aren't you going too?" This was her last chance and she knew it, Annie looked at the retreating cadets for a moment, before back at the small gang of shivering teens that remained. Taking a glance at Reiner, who stood at Bertolt's side, Annie realized he was stock-still in a perfect military salute. Bertolt followed her gaze and noticed the blond boy's stance with a fist clenched tight to his chest and brows furrowed. Sighing dejectedly, Bertolt nodded at Annie, believing her to be coming along to assist with Reiner’s erratic state, before facing frontwards again.  
"Thank you all," On the stage, Erwin smiled to himself, his eyes closing for a moment before flashing back open. "Now, show me your truest salute! Welcome to the Scout Regiment!" Snapping his right fist to his chest and stepping his left foot closer to his right, Erwin offered a clean salute to the new Scouts, a series of clapping hands and shouts of “Yes sir” echoing across the sandy courtyard.  
****************  
"So a whole lot of us came along, huh?" On the horse-drawn carriage to the Scout Regiment's headquarters, Reiner looked about at the sullen group who made the same choice as he did, "Annie? Even you? I thought you were joining the MPs" Looking away from Reiner, Annie shrugged in her usual nonchalant manner, “well thanks, we need all the help we can get."  
"How can you be so relaxed?" Connie was holding his head in his hands. Looking up, his sweat-streaked face and wide-eyes greeted the rest of his comrades, "We just made the most dangerous and stupid decision of our lives, besides even signing up for this job in the first place."  
"Hey," Reaching his hand next to him and onto the Connie’s shoulder, Reiner gave the smaller teen’s body a quick shake, "you didn't get 8th out of all of us for nothing, y’hear? You’ve got plenty of strength, Connie, don’t you forget that." With his other hand, Reiner gestured at the rest of the packed together teens, "We've got the whole top ten on the team, hell everyone here have already proven themselves as some damn good soldiers."  
"Not the whole top ten," Jean looked at the larger boy with slightly narrowed eyes, resenting the positivity in the aftermath of everything that had happened, "Marco's gone."  
Reiner sighed, his energy seeming to die down out of grief for his fallen comrade and friend, "Yeah..." Pursing his lips, Reiner raised his voice to rouse the other soldiers sitting around him, "So, are you all gonna let Marco and them die for nothing, or are you gonna do something?! Let's not forget, we've got a fucking Titan on our side! Eren’s said he’ll kill all the Titans and he always sticks to his word, so let’s help him out here!" The boy's volume and enthusiasm Reiner showed roused up the energy of the wagon’s passengers, who nodded and murmured agreements to Reiner's statement, their expressions growing brighter. "We can take down some stupid Titans! We're the best of the best, right?!" A chorus of agreeing voices met Reiner again, louder this time, "we're soldiers! We can do it!" Bertolt sat quietly next to Reiner, his silence contrasting strongly amongst the newly reenergized soldiers, he simply watched his friend bring life to the cart with an unreadable expression. Rubbing each side of his neck with both hands, Bertolt looked around the wagon before his eyes rested on Annie. Annie turned to face him, and their eyes met for a moment before Annie looked away and continued gazing at Wall Rose as it grew further and further away in the night’s darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annie's decision has been made, Bertolt and Reiner are still unaware of what their comrade now knows. Will she reveal her hidden power? Or keep it a secret?  
> Feel free to review and comment!


	3. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late! School, holidays and life have been throwing me for a loop XP Enjoy!

"Alright cadets!" The wagon stopped as a man in a bandana, Ness, pulled the reins of the horse, forcing it to slow to a stop. "We came a little later than I expected, so you’ll go right off to your beds! Girls are over there," he waved a hand to indicate the east wing of the old castle sitting before them, the faint light of torches visible through the windows. "Boys, you can follow me," hopping off the driver's seat, Ness stood and watched as the ragtag group of teens clambered drowsily out of his wagon.  
"Excuse me, sir," Mikasa motioned towards Ness, "where will Eren be?"  
"He's in the castle's cellar, safer for everyone that way." Mikasa was about to respond, but stopped when Armin lightly tugged her sleeve and shook his head when she turned to look back at him. Ness unbuckled the horse, patting its neck, "Shit! Listen,” Ness turned and looked at them from next to the horse, “you guys didn’t hear that from me, alright? I’m not sure I was supposed to tell you,” The sleep-deprived soldiers simply shrugged, Ness giving a sigh of contentment at their response. Reaching up, Ness patted the shoulder of the horse that had pulled their cart, the brown animal responded be slowly looking down at him before reaching down and biting his bandana, attempting to pull it off to Ness’s chagrin, "you crazy horse! Let me go, Charette!" The girls of the 104th left for their bunks while the boys watched tiredly as Ness yanked his bandana from the horse's mouth. "Sorry about that, boys. Let's go then, c'mon you crazy beast!" Horse in tow, Ness led the teenage boys through the torch-lit courtyard, stopping only to drop off his horse at the wooden stables before continuing to lead them towards their new residence.  
****************  
"This'll be your room while you're with us," opening the door, Ness led the boys into a dim room full of bunk beds and men who all looked over or around twenty years of age. "Choose your own beds, but be quiet about it, people are trying to -." Ness stopped talking and let out an audible sigh as a man stood up and began walking towards them, “sleep.”  
"So these are the greenhorns, eh?" A man with two-toned hair swaggered over, looking down at the boys with an attempt at an intimidating sneer twisting his face, "couldn't we get anyone better?"  
"So this is a veteran, eh?" Reiner raised his chin and looked down with narrowed eyes and pursed lips, mimicking the man, "couldn't we get anyone who doesn’t look like roadkill?" The whole room filled with small snickers as Reiner looked at the man who had greeted them, desperately trying to hold in his laughs while the elder man's face flushed in embarrassment.  
"Respect your elders you shit! Don't you know who I am?!"  
"N-no," Reiner trembled as he tried to hold in his laughter, "but I have a feeling you'll tell me."  
"Oluo, back off." A shirtless and fairly tall blond man pulled his hair out of the knot it was held in behind his head, letting it fall over his shoulders, "It's way too late for this."  
"Shut up, Eld! Someone has to teach these newbies some respect!" Oluo turned and snapped back at the blond, who merely shook his head. Seizing the opportunity, the younger soldiers hustled past Oluo, who was still arguing with Eld and now a brunet apparently named Gunther, moving in a hurrying cluster to a group of empty bunk beds near the back of the long hall. Ness watched his three comrades argue at the front of the room for a few moments and then rubbed the bridge of his nose and climbed onto his bed, undoing his bandana and folding it in half over the small headboard.  
The former 104th boys began unpacking what few items they had brought with them onto and next to the hard beds they had chosen for themselves. "Some greeting," Jean looked back at the door and Oluo's bunk, "what a dick..."  
"Oh like you were any more subtle on day one," Connie chuckled, lightly punching Jean over the shoulder.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Ha! Please," Connie looked at Jean furrowing his brow as he stroked Jean's shirt and Jean smacked away his hand, "mister 'faith in humanity,' not to mention you picked a fight with Eren after like, ten seconds." Rolling his eyes Jean climbed onto the bunk above Connie’s while the energetic teen laughed below him while digging through the small bag and pulling out a piece of bread, which he promptly began eating.  
"Get that from Sasha?" Reiner drawled out the end of Sasha's name, grinning at Connie teasingly.  
"Mhm," Connie mumbled through a mouthful of bread, "why, no one get you any?"  
"Nah, guess Krista was too busy," Reiner jumped onto his bed while Bertholdt rolled onto his side, facing the wall instead of his three friends.  
"You still holding out for her?" Connie shook his head, waving the crust of the bread at the large teen, "buddy, I got bad news for you..." Jean swung his hand down and hit Connie on the forehead. "Ow! What the hell, man?!"  
"Go, the fuck, to sleep!" Jean laid back down on his bed and pulled the blanket over his head as Connie blew out the candle on his nightstand, grumbling as he wolfed down the hard crust of bread.  
"G'night boys!" Reiner sang from his bed, chuckling slightly. Jean didn't respond, but simply flipped off Reiner, which could be barely seen in the dim light. The response, which was intended to be rude, instead made the blond teen hold back stronger laughs as he turned over and began settling down to sleep.  
****************  
"It's a bit late for you to be out here, isn't it?" Armin took a seat in the grass on the castle’s courtyard beside a hooded figure, which turned to him and removed its hood, revealing her identity.  
"Could say the same for you," Annie responded and looked at Armin with eyes squinting in the darkness, just managing to see his smile at her response. With a small sigh, Annie leaned back on her hands on looked at the sparsely cloudy sky for a few moments, her companion following her gaze and doing the same beside her. “So we’re here," Annie broke the silence but kept her eyes on the dim points of light scattered across the night sky.  
"Yeah..." Armin turned and looked at Annie with his lips still tugged upwards in a slight smile, “Thank you for coming, we do need you.”  
"Someone told me if I can fight, then I should do it." Annie pointed out, "Plus they might need me if Eren acts like he usually does."  
Armin laughed softly at the joke, "That's right, you always could put him in his place." Annie noticed Armin’s tired state and lightly put her hands on his shoulders, repositioning herself to gently lean his backwards so his head rested on her lap. Blue eyes wide at the sudden gesture, Armin smiled again, “thank you.”  
Playing with a few loose strands of his hair, Annie shrugged, thankful for the darkness of night which kept her light blush a secret, "No problem, we've had a long day and need to rest." After a few moments of silence following a quiet hum of agreement from her companion, Annie looked down and saw that Armin had closed his eyes and fallen asleep on his side, his hand raised near his face. With a small smile, Annie continued fiddling with his hair as he slept, looking around at the dim castle and stables in case someone appeared as she gradually allowed for sleep to overtake her.   
****************  
"Hey... Hey!" With a groan, Annie blinked opened her eyes to see a bespectacled person crouching a mere few feet away from her, "Good morning!" After a few moments, Annie remembered where she was and tried to move her legs and wake up Armin, but only succeeded in getting an unintelligible sound halfway between a yawn and a groan out of him. "I'm Hange, who are you? New recruit?" Looking back to the person in front of her, Annie nodded at them.   
“Yeah, we just joined -”  
"Ah, now I see!” Hange cut-off Annie, seeming to not even realize that they did, “a pair of young lovers sneaking out to see each other! How romantic!" Instantly, Annie’s face began to grow red and opened her mouth to object to Hange's claim but was cut off by a laugh and a wave of their hand, "I'm just teasing!" Once Hange had stopped laughing and wiped their glasses on their shirt, they nodded their head at Armin, "I'll leave you to get him up, but I'd hurry. I'm not the only early bird here!"  
"Thank you?" Annie was somewhat thrown off by Hange's oddness, but continued jostling her legs to try dislodge and awaken Armin without hurting him, "but why didn't you just leave me here until someone else showed up?"  
Hange stood up and dusted off their legs, "Because you'd not only get in trouble for staying out with a boy if I were anyone else, but you'd probably miss breakfast on your first day, too," As Hange spoke, their energetic voice seemed to have helped wake up Armin since he finally raised his head off of Annie's lap and rubbed his eyes sleepily, bringing himself to a sitting position beside her. "Oh good, he’s finally up!" Looking back at Annie, the messy-haired brunet pointed at the building behind the two blonds sitting on the ground. "Meals are in there, just listen for the room with the most noise," With that, they walked around Annie and Armin and waved without looking back as they went away, "see you later!"  
Regaining his wits, Armin looked at Annie through tired blue eyes, "Who was that?"  
Annie shrugged, "Some person named Hange..." Moments later, she shoved his shoulder, slightly annoyed by the situation she was just put in, "Why wouldn't you wake up?"  
Letting himself be pushed onto the ground beside her, Armin let out a childish whine, "I was comfortable!"  
"Whatever," standing up, Annie stretched her legs. "Let's just get going." Armin extended a hand and made gripping motions with it, wordlessly asking to be helped up. Rolling her eyes, Annie gripped his wrist tightly with both hands and heaved him to his feet.  
"Thank you," Armin rubbed his wrist where she had held. Annie just huffed and shoved her hands in her sweater's stomach pocket. The two began walking to the building Hange had indicated just moments before as quiet voices started to rise up as the whole Scout Regiment began awakening to the new day.  
****************

"Hey, there he is!" Looking over, Armin saw Reiner, Connie and Bertolt walking towards him and Annie.  
"I'll see you later, I need to get something." Before Armin could respond, Annie had begun walking away in the direction of the female barracks at a fairly quick pace.  
Connie started laughing behind his hands once Annie was out of earshot, "Wow Armin, never took you as the type to sneak out and meet girls in the middle of the night." Immediately, Armin's face flushed, and Reiner began chuckling quietly too, his thick arms folding across his chest, “You guys weren’t doing anything inappropriate, now were you?” At that, Armin began stammering denying responses, his face entirely red much to the amusement of both Reiner and Connie. Waving his hand and grinning widely, Connie chuckled through his teeth, “It’s all good man we’re just messing with you, don’t worry  
"Come on guys, knock it off," Bertolt spoke up quietly, but the other three teens were just able to hear him. Realizing he was going unnoticed, the tall brunet took a deep breath and tried again in a louder voice, “you guys!”  
"What's your deal, Bertl?" Connie lightly punched the taller boy on the shoulder, although he had to stand on his toes to do so, "You jealous of Mr. Ladies’ Man over here?"  
Now it was Bertolt's turn to blush, "I-it's nothing like that! I just think that it's Armin's business, that's all!" Reiner let out a small sigh and reached up to ruffle Bertolt's uncombed hair, slightly startling the brunet. "What was that for?"  
Reiner looked up at him with a knowing expression, his eyes soft, "No reason." Giving Bertolt's head a small push, Reiner began walking off, his earlier energy showing again, "So we gonna eat or not?" Connie turned around to follow him, leaving Armin and Bertolt behind.  
"Are you alright?" Armin asked, tilting his head to the left a bit, "you seem a little off today-"  
"I'm fine, let's just go," with that, Bertolt hustled after Connie and Reiner, leaving Armin by himself for a few seconds before he walked quickly after the trio of boys to join them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOOO FLUFF!!! Ahem, yeah finally some Aruani with a side of Reiner and Connie being themselves! Also I'm glad I worked Hange in there finally, favorite crazy scientist~


	4. First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back with some more! Hope you all enjoy this entry and bookmark this so you come back when there's more!

"Good morning everyone," Ness walked up to the table Connie, Ymir, Sasha and Krista were sitting at with a stack of papers in his hands. "I got some assignments for you guys today. We would have normal class but Captain Levi insisted on doing this instead," walking around, Ness handed a sheet of paper to each person at the table, "sorry about this in advance." At that, the elder man walked off to get his food.  
Sasha let out a groan, "Cleaning the stables? Are they serious?"  
Connie nudged her with his shoulder, "Hey, I got that too!"  
"Oh thank god! It would be so dull if it were just me and some random people!" Reaching an arm around his shoulders, Sasha gave Connie a squeeze before reaching around and pilfering his piece of bread and sliding her hand quickly back.  
"Hey!" Before Connie could get it back, Sasha put the piece of food in her mouth, "Damn it." Pulling her head back a bit and gripping the bread with a hand, Sasha tore the bread in half and gave the portion that was not still in her mouth back to Connie, "That's what I thought!" Putting the bread quickly into his own mouth before she could take it back, Connie squinted at the brunette and she squinted back in return.  
"Get a room you two," Ymir looked at the duo from across the table, leaning an arm on Krista's head which was quickly shoved off. Rubbing the arm as if the push had hurt, Ymir continued, "You guys are a sappier couple than Hannah and Franz could have ever been."  
"Don't be rude!" Krista pushed both of her hands onto Ymir's shoulder, almost pushing the taller girl off of the table's bench.  
"Hey! You brats keep it down!" From two tables away, Oluo sneered at them as he had at Reiner and the rest of the boys the night before, "It's too early in the morning for your shitty romances."  
"The hell is that?" Ymir asked, pulling her head back and looking Oluo up and down with an expression of disgust, "Looks like a cat that got hit by a wagon!"  
Three out of the other five of the people at Oluo's table started chuckling at Ymir's comment. Oluo’s face became beet red in anger at the disrespect he was given, "Why you little..."  
"Drop it, Oluo," the small man at the head of Oluo's table spoke up, immediately silencing him. "It's too early for that shit, too.”  
For a moment, Oluo’s glaring eyes met Ymir’s taunting smirk until finally he looked away, "Yes, Captain..." With that, Oluo gathered up his dishes and hurried out of the room and to the kitchen, muttering to himself. From the corner of Oluo's table, a familiar face looked at the four teens at the table and waved at them before leaning back to his seat and becoming hidden from view once again.  
"Was that Eren?" Sasha put both her hands on the table and pushed herself up for a better view, Connie standing up next and looking in the same direction as her with his spoon still in his mouth.  
"Poor guy, stuck with someone like that, I kinda feel bad." Taking a last sip of her drink, Ymir gathered up her dishes and left the table, leaving Connie, Sasha and Krista to try to catch a glimpse of their friend as his and the rest of the groups in the dining hall began cleaning up their dishes as Ymir had done.  
****************  
“You missed a spot,” Eren looked up and saw Petra leaning on her broom. “There, under the table,” she pointed to a small area of dust by the boy’s feet. Despite his unique place in the Scout Regiment, Eren had not been exempted from the cleaning duties but rather kept at a distance from most other soldiers.  
“Thanks…” Eren bent down and swept the dirt into a pile before sweeping it up into a small dustpan.  
“You alright, Eren?” Petra tilted her head, watching his movements, “you seem stressed, something bugging you?” He shook his head, walking the dustpan over to the trash bin, to which the redhead shook her broom at him and jokingly frowned at him. “Don’t you lie to me!”  
Eren smiled slightly and turned his head to face her, “Sorry, it’s just…” He glances away, out of the window to the castle courtyard. Petra turned her head and followed his gaze, spotting a small group of teens walking to the stables. “I miss them, I know they’re right there but-”  
“Go,” Eren looked back to Petra, who had looked back to him. “I can finish up here, there’s only a tiny bit left, plus you’d still be cleaning down there so Captain Levi wouldn’t get upset with you.” The brunet opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by a raised hand from the older woman, “Don’t argue with me, go out and see them!”  
“Thank you ma’am!” Eren set his broom against the wall and gave a quick salute before hustling out of the room.  
“Be sure you clean there, though!” Petra called after him, tilting her head towards the door as she walked to the room’s closet. Chuckling slightly, she opened the closet, which caused three small vases to fall out and shatter on the hard wood floor, spraying glass and dust across the room and Petra’s boots. With a low groan, Petra held her face in her hands and looked at her now dirtied boots and the dust now spread across floor in exasperation.  
****************  
“Okay, let me ask you guys something.” Connie looked around the stables he was set to clean with Sasha, Armin and Annie. Sasha was covering her nose at the dimly lit barn’s smell while Armin and Annie just looked with eyes narrowed against the invisible cloud of stench, “Does it seem to you guys like the Scouting Legion’s horses smell worse than the ones we had during training? Or is that just me?”  
“Nope, I smell it too.” Sasha stuck out her tongue slightly as she stepped into the dank stables, her feet making a wet noise on the floor a few steps in. “And now I feel it... Great.”  
“They get a special feed,” Armin offered, looking in sympathy at Sasha’s dirtied boot. “Gives them more energy for long distance travel at high speeds.”  
“How do you...” Connie stopped and shook his head, waving his hand at Armin to ask for him to disregard the question, “never mind. You know everything, that’s how.”  
“Well, not everything…” Annie walked past Armin and Connie, watching her step to avoid the same fate as Sasha, “but I did read, ‘Military Information Available to the Public.’”  
Connie let out a long whistle, “Damn, sounds like a heavy read!” Armin shrugged and began sorting through the tools they had been given, “What? Was it too easy for you?”  
“It was only about 50 pages, and most of it was pictures.” Looking in dismay at the small trowel they had been given, Armin put it back with a sigh, “Guess there’s some things they don’t want the public to know. Which I can see for certain topics but -”  
“That’s stupid!” Connie interjected, unhappy with the way their military worked, “how are people supposed to defend themselves if they don’t know anything?!”   
“Maybe they could ask you.” Sasha let out a snort before laughing behind her hand at Annie’s sudden sass, “Are you to going to help or just stand there and watch us do everything?”  
“Hurtful…” Connie pouted and walked in with Armin following behind. “Hey, Armin, mind getting some shovels? I think we’re gonna need ‘em and all we have are those.” Looking over the old and useless-looking garden tools they had been given once more, Armin nodded and turned to leave.  
“I better go too,” Annie began exiting as well, prompting Armin to stop and wait for her. Once she was at his side, she looked him up and down, “You can’t carry four shovels yourself, right?” The blond opened his mouth to protest but Annie left before he could say anything, Armin just catching a glimpse of what he believed to be a smirk barely tugging at her lips as she walked past.  
As the two walked off, Armin hurrying for a moment to catch up to Annie who slowed herself down to allow him to catch up, Connie turned to Sasha and jabbed a thumb at the two retreating figures, “Okay, are those two a couple or am I imagining things?” In response, Sasha hit lightly her palm against his forehead, “Hey! What was that for?”  
“You can be so dense sometimes,” she chuckled, turning and kicking some hay that was in a small pile on the dirty floor, “Should we get started?”  
“Hey, you love me for it,” she turned around and stuck her tongue out at him, to which he replied by sticking out his own tongue and making a noise. “Nah,” Leaning his back against a stall’s entrance, he nodded towards the assortment of tools, “we can’t do much of anything with those as our only tools.”  
Sasha copied his position and placed herself next to him and closed her eyes with a quiet sigh, “True, true.” After a few moments of silence, the brunette opened one eye and looked at her companion, “Should we wait outside?”  
“Yes, definitely yes.” Connie stood up and hustled out of the stable, carefully watching his step to avoid making the same mistake Sasha had made just minutes before. Sasha hurried after him in a hurry to be out of the foul-smelling barn, but accidentally stepped in a small pile of filth again and arrived at the doorway still muttering obscenities much to Connie’s amusement.  
****************  
Mikasa stood in a small tool-filled room, looking through the various items lining the walls and shelves for what she needed. Hearing a creak on the floorboards, she reflexively grabbed a small spade and turned to face whoever had come in, but dropped it on a small counter when she saw who had tried to sneak up on her, “Eren!” She turned around and held his hands in hers, her eyes wide with worry, “What are you doing here? Are you alright?”  
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he pulled his hands out of hers and let out a small noise of objection when she quickly caught them in her grasp them again, “Petra’s covering for me, and Captain Levi should be fine as long as I’m cleaning something.”  
A dark strand of hair fell in front of Mikasa’s face as she narrowed her eyes at the mention of Levi, “That shorty had better not try anything, no matter if it’s right or wrong…”  
“It’s alright!” The brunet’s bright green eyes widened slightly at Mikasa’s sudden change in demeanor and tone, the intimidating glare she had developed causing him to worry slightly. “It’s what he’s supposed to do, and even if it wasn’t he’d still have the right to do it since I’m under his care.”  
“I don’t care,” she bit her lip, thinking of what she would do if Levi ever harmed Eren again, still bitter about being made to watch as Eren was beaten by him at the end of the trial. “I still think he went too far back then… ” A few seconds later, she was surprised by Eren’s forehead lightly bumping into hers, even though it had considerably less force than when he head-butted her in the past “What are you-”  
“I can sorta understand what you’re trying to do, but can take care of myself, you don’t need to worry about me like I’m your kid!” Eren looked at her from under his bangs and ran his thumb over her hand, “I’ll be fine, I promise.”  
Mikasa found herself at a loss for words, Eren had never before acted so calmly when she reminded him of her vow to protect him, “But your mother told me to keep you alive, so that’s what I’m going to keep doing.”  
“I know, but I want to keep you safe too.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, drawing a small noise of surprise from Mikasa as he kissed her. Leaning back to his previous distance, Eren gave her hands a light squeeze, “I’ve missed you while we’ve been separated…”  
The kiss Eren gave to her caused Mikasa’s face to grow red, his actions were completely unexpected, “I’ve missed you too…” Thinking for a moment, Mikasa bit her lip and looked at the open door, “We should close that, someone might see us.” The idea of what may happen once the door was closed caused Eren to blush as well and he nodded, pecking her cheek quickly before hurrying to the door and glancing into the hall to check if anyone was there. Satisfied that there was nobody around, Eren shut the door and hurried back to Mikasa, who smiled at his hustle, “Someone’s in a hurry.”  
“Shut up,” Eren murmured in a tone that caused a chill to dance up Mikasa’s spine, the kiss that followed having enough pressure to draw a sound out of her. Placing her hands on Eren’s chest, Mikasa began pushing him down to the ground as she began kissing him, giving his lips an experimental bite to see his reaction.   
****************  
Armin and Annie walked through the winding corridors of the Scouting Legion Headquarters, searching for the storage closet that held the shovels they needed. Opening a door, Armin peeked in and saw a red-haired woman sweeping broken glass and dust up into a small wooden dustpan. "Ah, excuse me, miss," the woman looked up at Armin with a quiet hum and stopped her sweeping for the moment, "do you know where the storage closet is?"  
She pointed her thumb to the left, "Take this hallway down to the stairs, go down the next floor and it should be the last door in that hallway before a fork in the road."  
Armin nodded, going over her instructions in his head, "Right, thank you very much, miss!" Giving a small wave he turned to walk away, Annie nodded at their helper before turning around to follow Armin.  
"Wait a second!" The duo stopped and looked back into the room at the woman, who was now looking at them more closely. "You guys are from the 104th trainee squad, right? I sent out Eren to see you guys earlier, I'm Petra Ral." At the mention of Eren, Armin's eyes widened in excitement and a smile appeared on his face, "I wonder where he is if he didn't go right to you guys, he better not just be ditching to leave alone with this mess…"  
"We'll be sure to keep an eye out for him, thank you Ms. Ral!" Armin smiled at her before walking at an energized pace towards the end of the hall, Annie wordlessly hurrying after the excited teen without another word. Petra looked back at her broom and the remaining dust and glass on the floor with a dismayed expression.  
_‘I should've asked them to help me…’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Much. Fun! I rarely find myself writing Springles and Yumikuri together even though I love them both so much. Also I hope you all enjoyed that Eremika in there~ Be sure to share and review, have a good evening/day/whatever!


	5. Unexpected Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WORK LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!! Sorry about the delay, just got a computer (before now I've been working solely on an iPad I cry)! Here's what I hope to be the second to OR final chapter before we get to some action (and I don't mean the kind Eren and Mikasa had).  
> Enjoy!

As he rushed down the stone steps, Armin nearly slipped and fell on the stairs, which appeared to be slick and shiny from a recent polishing. Righting himself, he continued at a slightly decreased but still quick pace, Annie following close behind, "You really should slow down, Armin. We don't need you busting both of your knees all over again."  
"Sorry," Armin reached the bottom of the steps and looked up at her, "I'm just excited, I hope we can see him!" He waited a second for Annie to reach his side again before walking down the hall with her, "I wonder where he is? Eren doesn't get distracted easily."  
"Maybe he saw someone else," Annie shrugged and stopped outside a wood door. "This should be the door that woman pointed, right?" She reached out to turn the knob but stopped, her right eyebrow quirking up as she heard a small noise.  
"Yeah, this seems to be what she meant." Armin stopped and stood behind her, "Annie? What's -" She raised a finger at him for silence and leaned her ear onto the door to confirm what she heard. Still silent she bent and straightened her already raised finger to motion for Armin to stand next to her and listen.  
Cocking his head to the side in confusion, Armin moved up and stood beside her, putting his ear to the door as Annie had done so he faced her. Through the thick wood, the boy could hear muffled moans and murmurs coming from inside and his face immediately flushed red. Looking over at his companion with wide eyes Armin saw that she had grasped the doorknob again, "Wait, don't open it!"  
With a light push and a metallic click, the door was opened, revealing Mikasa on top of Eren, leaning down so her face was close to his. The instant the door was opened they were still, shocked and thoroughly embarrassed by the intrusion, "U-uh, hi Armin."  
Armin bit his lip and shook his head at his two childhood friends, his face even more red than it had been just seconds before. "Hey, Eren, Mikasa. Sorry to interrupt…" While the trio of friends looked at each other with the same confused and embarrassed expressions, all of them red with embarrassment, Annie walked quietly past Eren and Mikasa to the wall Mikasa had been at just a short time ago and took a set of four metal shovels.  
"I found the shovels, let's go." Returning to the door with the two shovels in each hand, Annie tossed Eren and Mikasa a parting look of mixed exasperation and amusement over her shoulder, "You two should have locked the door to keep this situation from happening, I did not want or need to see this." Looking away, the blonde walked out of the storage room, leaving the couple even more embarrassed than before.  
"Well then, I'm gonna go too…" Armin pointed his thumb in the direction Annie had gone and backed away, his hand grasping behind him for the doorknob. "See you guys later!" Closing the door quickly, the completely flustered teen hurried away after Annie, leaving his friends alone again and totally embarrassed on the closet’s floor.  
Eren looked at the now closed door, his eyes wide in shock at what had happened. Looking back at Mikasa, he saw that her face was just as red as his. "Well, that was something." Tilting his neck back so that the back of his head hit the cold stone floor he let out a quiet sigh and looked up at Mikasa with a sheepish smile, "Sorry about that…"  
"It's not your fault," Looking at the door as well, she bit her lip, her blush beginning to fade, "if only she hadn't shown up, I heard Armin tell her not to come in right as she opened the door." The dark-haired teen stood and walked over a small nail in the wall next to the exit, picking a keyring off of it and inserting one into the door's lock, turning it so that they were locked alone in the stone room. "She did have a fair point though…"  
****************  
"Well it's about time!" Connie stood up from his spot on the wall, Sasha letting out an unintelligible noise as her head jerked up and she blinked open her eyes, seeming to have dozed off where she reclined. "We got yelled at for not working by some passing soldiers while you two slackers were gone!"  
"Sorry," Armin adjusted his hold on the two shovels he received from Annie. Wordlessly, Connie walked up closer and leaned his face towards Armin's so that their noses were only inches apart, "Um… Connie? What are you doing?"  
"You're blushing…" Connie leaned back with a cheeky grin on his face, "What happened? Did you two get a little," he chuckled as his belief in what he had come up with began to take a firmer grounding in his mind, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, "distracted by each other?"  
"Wh-what?!" Armin's face reddened again and he took a step back, "n-no way! Nothing happened while we were gone just now!" He looked over at Annie for support, but found she had aimed an icy stare at Connie and had the boy looking away from her, his gaze shifting around in nervousness and a slight fear.  
"Aha, ha…" Connie cleared his throat, glancing away as he adjusted his shirt's collar, "r-right! Of course! I was just teasing," the boy looked over at Sasha for backup, but found that she was dozing off again and let out a sigh, "should we get started with our cleaning, then?" Armin nodded and handed him the pair of shovels that he held and picked up one for himself from Annie, whose eyes followed Connie like a hawk watching a mouse as he walked over to Sasha and hit just a few inches above her head with a shovel to get her up and handing her the same shovel once she was standing up off of the stable.  
****************  
Connie wiped his sweaty brow, accidentally streaking himself with the soap-filled water he had just been cleaning with. “Goddammit…” Muttering to himself, he picked up a rag before noticing it was dirty and tossing it to the side as he pulled the bottom of his shirt to his face, “hey guys! Isn’t this enough?!”   
Over to the side, Armin leaned forward onto his shovel, his hair sticky with sweat and dirt, “yeah, yeah I think it should be…”  
“Oh thank god!” Connie dramatically fell back against a stable, the wooden structure shaking slightly behind him as he did, “I’m so sick of this shit… Horse shit to be exact,” He shot a playful wink at Armin to make sure his pun had been acknowledged, the latter simply rolled his eyes and chuckled.  
“I wonder if everyone else is done, too.” Sasha shoveled a final heap of dirt into a pile they had been working on before putting her shovel up against a stall and turning to look at the two boys, “I mean, it’s been a few hours at least, right?”  
“Three.” Without warning, Annie walked out from the stable Connie had been leaning on, the sudden opening of the door startling the teen and making him jump to the side and stand next to Armin, the blond chuckling more than he had when Connie had given his attempt at a joke. Looking at Connie, Annie gave him a small shrug, “Sorry,” the apology was monotonous and seemed to be halfhearted.  
“Nope I’m fine, what’re you talking about?” Connie looked to the side, then coughed embarrassedly into his elbow, “So are we gonna go look for everyone or what?”   
****************  
The four teens walked about the courtyard, eventually stopping near the gate they had come through the night before to regard a wide stretch of freshly cut grass. “Took you long enough!” Reiner’s teasing voice called out to them from where he stood by a group of small trees with Bertolt, Krista, Jean and Ymir.  
“Probably because we had more people,” Jean spoke up, looking over at the group that came to join them. “How did it go for you guys?”  
Sniffing loudly through her nose a few times, Ymir raised her hand up to hold her nose shut, “You all need to shower, especially you, Leonhart.” She took her hand away from her nose and pointed at Annie, “You smell worse than usual, if that’s even possible of course.”  
“Knock it off!” Krista shoved Ymir’s shoulder in the same way she had at breakfast, giving the taller girl an irritated look before turning her gaze to Annie and offering an apologetic smile, “Sorry about that, Annie.”  
“It’s fine,” Annie responded to her curtly, her narrowed eyes locked with Ymir’s “It’s not your fault that your girlfriend’s got issues, after all.”  
“Okay, that’s enough of that!” Connie stepped between the two girls and clapped his hands together, looking back and forth between them fearfully, “Why don’t we just kick back a bit before dinner, huh?” Chuckling nervously, he looked back to the other four there for some support, but none of them stepped forward and Reiner had even begun to laugh quietly at the situation Connie had gotten himself into. Much to Connie’s relief, the two girls backed off before they went any further, but still shot glares at each other, “Thank you, honestly, you two are scarier than any Titan could even dream of being…”  
“Hey, is that Eren and Mikasa over there?” Sasha pointed over to the center of the courtyard. Squinting in the dying light of the sun, Jean followed her finger and his expression became blank when he realized the two must have been alone together for some time. “Hey! You guys, over here!” Reiner covered his ears at the brunette’s sudden shouts since he was standing directly beside her, stepping a few paces away as she waved at the two people now approaching their group at a decent pace.  
“Hey, Eren! Good to see you!” Connie patted his taller friend’s shoulder, grinning happily at him after not seeing him for some time, “I mean we saw you at breakfast, but we couldn’t get to you.”  
“Hey Mikasa,” Sauntering over with Krista following her and whispering for her not to do anything rash, Ymir looked over the slightly shorter girl. “What gives? You were supposed to help us clean up here. What happened, get distracted by your boyfriend there?” Jabbing a thumb to indicate Eren, her lips curl up into a smirk.  
Both Mikasa’s and Eren’s faces immediately flushed red, Eren himself opening his mouth to deliver a retort but finding himself interrupted by Jean, “Shut the hell up, Ymir! As if Mikasa would do that!”  
“Actually Jean, she would.” Annie spoke up from the sidelines, Armin’s own cheeks dusting red as he realized what she was talking about and whispering for her to stop. Looking back at him with the corner of her lip twitching upwards, she rolled her eyes and looked away from Jean, “Never mind…”  
Jean stammered, trying to find the words to respond to Annie but Reiner and Connie interrupted, laughing with some volume, “S-so that’s why you took so long, eh Armin?” Connie asked between his ending bursts of laughter, hitting his fist on Reiner’s back as the larger teen began to wheeze as he too stopped laughing. Mikasa looked at Eren, but he was looking furiously at Annie, who returned his gaze with one of faux innocence, a small smirk barely visible on her face.  
“Knock it off you two!” Bertolt appeared to have yelled louder than he intended too, for he immediately covered his mouth, small beads of sweat visible on his face. “S-sorry, I just saw that they were making you guys uncomfortable and I –“  
“You’re fine, Bertolt,” Mikasa looked over at him, offering a small smile. “Thank you.” The tall brunet smiled shyly back at her, his eyes still full of nervousness after his outburst.  
“Yeah, yeah he’s right,” Connie stood up straight and dusted himself off, “sorry you guys, that was kinda rude of us, huh?” He elbowed Reiner in the side, jerking his head at Eren and Mikasa once he had the buff blonde’s attention.  
“Y-yeah,” he wiped a tear from his eye and then looked apologetically at the two flustered teens, “sorry about that…”  
Eren sighed and nodded once, “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Giving Reiner a playful look, he pointed his thumb at him, “but you do something like that again, and I’m tossing you right over the wall, got it?”  
Reiner snorted, “Whatever you say Eren.” Cocking his head towards the castle, Reiner indicated a few green-cloaked figures that were heading towards and into it, “We should get going, dinner should be getting served any minute now.” The rest of the group nodded and followed him, setting off towards the entrance of their fortress as the sky was stained orange and purple as the sun fell behind the distant Wall Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sass is so very real. So so very real. Ymir and Annie are easily the two most fun to pit against each other, since they are pretty similar (in more ways than one). Be sure to like, review and share if you enjoyed! See you all next time!


	6. Eve of the Counterattack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this should be the last or second to last chapter before we get to some action (of the Titan kind, not the kind Eren and Mikasa have going on!)! For now, please kick back and enjoy your regularly scheduled teenage shenanigans~

“As of this morning, there are only two days and three nights left until the 57th expedition,” Ness glanced up from the papers he held in his hand at the room which the younger Scout Regiment soldiers to ensure that they were paying attention. “We’ll leave from Karanese District, since the gate at Trost was completely shut off when Eren resealed it, and it’d be way more difficult to move horses and supplies over that wall instead of going the long way around.” Looking up from the papers again, Ness bit his lip as he tried to hide the emotions he was feeling, “Some of us may die, and, unfortunately, it’s highly likely that at least a few of you will be part of that group. That said, don’t try anything unnecessary while we’re out there, and don’t run amok through the formation looking for one specific person,” He looked from Mikasa to Ymir, the latter of whom opened her mouth to retort but was cut off. “I’ll be on the East side of the formation, and I won’t be able to keep an eye on all of you. Just be careful and play it safe, alright? In the Scouts it’s widely considered that you’re truly one of us when you go out and make it back, I don’t really like that mindset but it could serve as a goal for you all. Prove to the veterans who look down on you just because you’re fresh from training that you’re one of us.” At the back of the class, Reiner, Connie and Jean exchanged looks, remembering how Oluo had greeted them, “Dismissed!” At that, the assembled soldiers gathered up their belongings and began heading towards the door.  
Musing to himself silently for a moment as his class was making their exit, Ness snapped his fingers as something came to mind, “Oh, almost forgot!” The group stopped next to the door and looked back at Ness, “You’ll need your full gear tomorrow, go down to the armory and get it after breakfast and then meet me out front. We’re doing a 3D gear run through a forest near here, Commander Smith wants to do it before we leave as a type of final evaluation for you all, he’ll probably make an announcement about it during dinner too.” With a quick nod, the teens turned and exited the room, leaving Ness alone. Walking to the chair behind his desk, he sat down and held his face in his hands with his elbows on the hard wooden desk, “Dammit… I hate this part of my job, I have get close to the newest soldiers, and then see most of them end up dead so damn fast, shit…” Alone in the now empty room, no a soul was there to see the tears that dripped down Dieter Ness’ cheeks, his face hidden behind his hands.  
****************  
Sighing, Connie sat down with his back against a tree and brought his knees up to his chest, “So… We’re almost there, huh? We’re almost outside the walls,” Nervously, he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Doesn’t feel as exciting as you made it out to be, Armin, I’m just scared as hell.”  
“Yeah, to be honest, I’m more scared waiting to go out than when we were tossed right into it all at Trost,” Sasha admitted, standing next to Connie and looking over at Armin, Annie and Jean with her eyes wide, “it doesn’t make much sense, I should be less scared since I’ve fought Titans before, right?”  
“No, I think it’d make sense if you’re more scared now than then,” Armin mused, holding up his index finger, “one, we have first-hand experience with what Titans are capable of, something most new soldiers don’t. And two,” He pointed his middle finger up alongside his index, “last time, we didn’t have much time to think of everything that could go wrong before we fought, now we’ve had nearly a month to worry.”  
Immediately after Armin finished talking, Sasha let out a wail and held her head in her hands, falling on her rear to sit next to Connie, who looked over at her with one eyebrow raised in surprise at her cry, “Huh? What’s wrong, Sasha?”   
“I hadn’t been too focused on everything that could go wrong! Besides, y’know, me or one of you guys getting killed!” The brunette let out a groan and shook her head in her hands, “Now I am, though! What if someone gets stuck out there alone with no one to help them?!”  
Annie looked at Sasha, seemingly unfazed by her display, “Well, that crazy scientist, Hange or something, mentioned something about a girl getting trapped after an expedition, apparently they found her journal and learned a few things from it.”  
“J-just the journal? That’s all?” Sasha looked up at Annie with watery eyes, but the blonde looked away to avert her gaze, leaving Sasha to let out another groan. Scooting closer to her, Connie began to rub her back comfortingly with his left hand, “Thanks, Connie.”  
“Don’t mention it,” he murmured. Looking up at Annie, who seemed to be distracted by a nearby bench, Connie asked, “Hey, since when do you talk to random scientists? You don’t even seem to like talking to us that much....”  
Fixing the sitting boy with such a glare that both he and Sasha cowered slightly, Annie responded coolly, “For your information, Springer, I wanted to know what they had found out. It’s obvious that someone doesn’t want us knowing everything there is to know, but that scientist is too enthusiastic about talking to hold back, I was up all night listening to them babble on. And for your information,” Annie’s voice became slightly softer and Connie sat up a bit straighter, “I never said I didn’t enjoy talking to you all.”  
“Ha! So you do like us then?” Jean asked, looking at Annie amusedly, “Guess you’re not as much of a hard-ass as you make yourself out to be, huh?”  
“So that’s what you think, Jean?” Annie smiled almost imperceptibly, but resumed her normal bored stare once she had turned to face the taller boy, “I might not be, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not every bit as much of a jackass as you seem to be.” She began walking away, leaving Connie and Sasha holding laughs behind their hands and Jean and Armin looking after her with surprised expressions.  
“Hey, Armin.” Jean leaned down next to Armin as though he were about to tell a great secret, “How do you do it, huh? How are you able to stand her?”  
“Simple,” Armin smiled up at him, “I don’t “stand her.” She’s really a very nice and kind person at heart, even if you think she’s just closed off all the time. You need to look beyond what you see on the surface, Jean.” Since she was still only a small distance away from him, Annie heard Armin’s response to Jean’s question and hurried away, her eyebrows furrowing and her lips turning downwards in a tight frown.  
Noticing the blonde girl’s hastened exit, Armin looked at her for a moment before hustling after her. “Annie? Hold on a minute!”  
Jean put his hand on his hip and watched Armin chase after Annie, a confused look on his face. “I don’t get those two…” Behind him, Connie and Sasha hummed in agreement and Jean turned around to look at them, his mouth opening slightly when he saw that they were each eating half a piece of bread. “You could have offered me some!”  
“We could’ve,” Connie said, small crumbs shooting out of his mouth at Jean’s feet as he spoke, prompting the standing teen to take a few steps back, “but we didn’t really want to.” He chuckled through his mouthful, and Sasha laughed beside him once she had finished with hers as Jean held his face in one hand and shook his head.  
“I don’t get you guys, either.”  
****************  
“There you are,’ Armin panted as he came to a halt in front of Annie, who had sat with her back against an old pine tree, “you alright? You suddenly bolted and-“  
“I’m not a good person, Armin,” Annie interrupted him, absentmindedly tracing circles around the dead pine needles littering the ground, “I’m not kind. You don’t know why yet, but you will soon, and you definitely won’t think I am once you do find out my secret, and I have a feeling you’ll find out very soon.”  
“Well that’s just it,” Armin responded evenly, sitting with his legs crossed in front of Annie. “I don’t know what your secret is, or why it makes you think you can’t possibly be a good person to me at least. You are a good person in my eyes, and I promise I’ll, at the very least try to, understand whatever your secret may be.”  
Annie sighed and shook her head, “why? Why do you try so hard with me, Armin? No one else her will, so why you?”  
Armin’s cheeks flushed red with blush and he turned his head to the side, “w-well, I figure it’s because I, um…” From under the bangs that had fallen over his eyes, Armin looked over at Annie through the corners of his eyes, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, “love you…” Noticing Annie’s eyes widen in surprise, Armin looked back at the ground, thinking over what he said, “s-sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that, right?”  
“No, you shouldn’t have said it at all,” Annie stood up and looked at Armin with her eyes full of unspoken pain, “you shouldn’t love me, Armin, not with what I really am. And it’s wrong that I feel the same towards you, I can’t be.”  
“Why is it wrong?” Armin looked up at her, his eyes wide in confusion and growing despair, “Tell me, Annie, please tell me why.”  
“I can’t.” Annie whispered, still looking down at Armin and allowing her eyes to meet his for a moment before turning away from him, “I’m so sorry…” Without another word, the blonde jogged away, leaving Armin speechless and confused on the needle-strewn ground in the dimming light behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst, angst and some more angst. It can't be all fluff and happiness, this is Attack on Titan after all XD As always, please leave kudos and share if you enjoyed, cheers!


	7. Change of Heart and Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I planned to update this weekly. Unfortunately, school doesn't really give a damn. Luckily, I've had the past two days off, so new chapter's early this time!
> 
> Note: Darius Baer-Varbrun is the man who was punted right after the famous "yo-yo scene."

“U-um, excuse me,” turning around, Annie saw a small blonde boy, “I-I’m Armin, Eren told me about you, you’re Annie, right?”  
“Mhm,” Annie leaned her back against the wall next to her, regarding Armin with her usual bored stare. “What do you want? Make it quick, I don’t have all afternoon for your stuttering.”  
“O-oh, sorry...” Glancing away with a defeated expression, Annie felt an unexpected twinge of sympathy for him, before redirecting her stony gaze to the ground, instantly regretting the feeling. “I was just wondering, well if you wouldn’t mind, E-eren said you were really good at sparring, so I was wondering if you could, um, teach me?” After a few moments without an answer, Armin looked away from Annie “never mind, sorry to waste your time-“  
“Why would you want to learn hand-to-hand?” Speaking up suddenly, Annie stood up off of the wall, looking Armin dead in the eye, “it counts for next to nothing in our final grade, why waste your time trying to learn?”  
“Well, I’m n-not very strong, my whole childhood I got beat up by bullies until they got bored or Eren and Mikasa showed up. I don’t want to have people think they need to waste time trying to protect me, I want to protect myself. I want to be strong, like you and everyone else here,” tilting his neck slightly, Armin looked curiously at Annie, “what about you? You don’t really seem to care about this training in general, why do you practice hand-to-hand with Eren?”  
Listening silently to Armin’s reasons, Annie was about to respond but found herself cut off by the boy’s question. Picking it apart for a moment, Annie resisted the urge to leave then and decided to humor him instead, “wasn’t really my choice, Eren and Reiner called me out on skipping a practice one day and Eren ended up asking me to train him, I only did because I don’t want to my abilities to get dull, and he’s the only one stupid enough to even talk to me.”  
“What makes approaching you stupid? I don’t understand what you mean,” choosing each word carefully, Armin continued, “you don’t really seem the type to give in just because someone asked you to, there must be more to you agreeing to work with Eren than him just asking for your help.”  
Exhaling quickly through her nose, Annie smiled imperceptibly while listening to Armin, enjoying each of his countering responses. “I’m not exactly a ‘people person,’ Arlert. As for giving in because just because he asked, I didn’t. I said yes because one,” she raised her hand next to her face and pointer her index finger up, “I already said I need to practice in some way, and two,” she pointed up with her middle finger, keeping her index extended next to it, “I knew it was the only way to get him to shut up. Eren wasn’t going to stop bothering me until I gave in, he’s like a needy child.”  
Closing his eyes, Armin leaned down slightly and chuckled behind his hand, “he really is, isn’t he? Eren rarely ever stops until he gets to do what he wants. Sorry about that,” Annie simply shrugged her shoulders, “but I’m getting off topic, if you want practice and help yourself, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to you if you had two partners? I promise I won’t quit on you after one round.”  
“Y’know, I think I’ll pass, although…” Annie looked Armin up and down again, “you seem pretty well-off mentally, and I personally enjoyed this little debate. How about I make a deal with you,” Annie walked closer to him, looking into his light blue eyes, which were slightly wide in surprise by her sudden approach, “we find different topics to talk about, each of us takes a side and we argue. If you can beat me four times, I’ll train you starting the day after your fourth win. If I beat you four times, I decide where to go from there.”  
“I accept your offer,” Armin grinned, excited by the challenge, to which Annie’s cheeks dusted a light shade of pink, “when do we start?”  
“Meet me here again tonight, midnight. Don’t be late or it’s a win by default for me.” Turning away, Annie walked off, before tossing a quick glance over her shoulder at him “see you then, Arlert.”  
“See you!” Armin was about to wave goodbye to her, but thought better of it once he saw that she was unlikely to turn around again. As he walked off, Armin gave a last glance over his shoulder at Annie’s retreating figure before continuing on his way.  
****************  
“Hey,” Connie prodded Armin’s shoulder with his fork, before nodding his head at the full bowl of stew in front of the blond, “you gonna eat that or what?”  
“Huh?” Armin batted away the fork and brushed off his dirtied shoulder, “no, no, you take it. I’m not hungry…” Looking over his shoulder, Armin’s sad blue eyes gazed longingly at the corner of the dining hall, at Annie, who sat alone at the end of a table.  
“Hey, Armin, buddy, what’s up with you?” Armin put his fork to the side and put his arm around his friend, lightly jostling him side to side, “you should eat-“ Noticing he was being ignored, Connie followed his gaze, “ah, I see. Girl trouble.” Armin sighed and pushed his bowl towards Connie, who pushed it back, “I wouldn’t worry about it, not with what’s gonna happen tomorrow. Eat up, you’ll need a clear head and a full stomach.” Nudging the bowl slightly closer to Armin, Connie gave him an ear-to-ear grin, which was returned by a half-hearted smile from Armin, who began mechanically spooning food into his mouth, casting sideways glances at Annie, who seemed extremely interested in the bits of vegetables in her stew, but turned her gaze to glance at Armin for a moment when he wasn’t looking.  
‘Of all the people, why did it have to be him?’ Annie bit her lip, angry at herself, ‘I should have made that deal with him then, and I shouldn’t have let myself lose. This has gone too far,’ her left canine sunk into her lower lip, and a small spot of blood began to form. ‘It’s already too late. I need to learn what that memory means, and if the ones outside were the reason he pulled that stunt. If it means being stuck with Armin, so be it. He’ll die soon anyway-‘ Annie’s eyes widened at the thought, and she quickly covered her mouth to hide the small wisp of steam coming off her cut, ‘then again, maybe he doesn’t have to die just yet. I’ve already betrayed those two by going against the plan, and these people seem to have that, so why not join this side, it could likely end up winning it all in the end. Besides,’ uncovering her mouth, Annie looked at the back of Armin’s head again, ‘we’re all likely to end up dying fairly soon, so why not fight for what I want while I’m still alive?’  
****************  
“Alright then, we’re heading out! Training today will take place in a forest just north of Trost, the focus will be to see how quickly you can respond to commands while on horseback, and while on the 3D gear.” Ness looked over the small cluster of teens, all of whom were wearing the 3DMG in addition to their usual belts and uniforms. Behind Ness, the courtyard buzzed with the quiet conversations of the Survey Corps as they got onto their horses, “I’m going to give you all your team assignments: Kirstein, Springer, Blouse, and Ackerman, you will all be with Baer-Varbrun’s squad; Leonhart, Hoover, Braun, and Arlert will be with me and Siss. Understood?” A chorus of “yes, sir!” was the group’s reply, “the four of you with Varbrun, you can find him nearer to the gate, he got your horses already. Those with me, we’re going to the stables to get ours!”  
As the group dispersed, Connie jogged over to Armin, “hey, so you’re with Annie, huh?” Armin nodded, attempting to walk away but Connie grasped his shoulder firmly, “don’t lose your head, keep focused. If you can’t focus here, how’re you supposed to do well when we go outside?”  
“Yeah, you’re right, thanks, Connie.” Armin smiled at him, and Connie gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, “y’know, you’re a good friend, you always know how to help people out, you’re very good at understanding how people think.”  
“Pshhh, you’re makin’ me blush!” Connie released Armin’s shoulder and punched him playfully with the same hand, then turning away and waving his hand in the air. “See you later, Armin.”  
“See you,” Armin turned away and hustled after Ness, who had Annie, Reiner and Bertolt already trailing behind him.  
****************  
“Jump off and engage Third-Dimensional Maneuver Gear!” Behind Ness and Siss, the four cadets entrusted to their care stood up on their horse’s saddles in unison for half a moment before firing each of their hooks into one of the trees surrounding them. Once all four were moving swiftly through the forest, Siss and Ness jumped up and joined them, flanking their left and right sides, “nicely done, I see Keith trained you all well! Now then-” before Ness could continue his sentence, a thick wave of fast-moving, dark gray clouds swept across the skies, “oh shit!” With a deafening boom of thunder, rain began pouring out of the now completely darkened sky, instantly soaking the six soldiers, who continued rushing through the trees.  
“Dammit… Ness!” Siss squinted his eyes and narrowly missed hitting a tree, nimbly rolling through the air between two thick branches, “we can’t see five inches in front of us, it’d be safer for us if we stopped for now!”  
“Good plan, Siss!” Shouting over the loud noise of the storm, Ness hooked into a tree and balanced carefully on a branch, “everyone! Find a tree and stay put!”  
Heeding Ness’ order, the four youngest soldiers all hooked into trees, Siss landing slightly farther away. Armin landed himself into an old pine tree, which was covered in peeling bark and was shaking dangerously in the gale. Pulling up his hood, Armin squinted through the downpour and saw his comrades across the small dirt trail below them, Annie above him in a sturdy oak tree, which was barely swaying in the wind. Suddenly, the branch beneath Armin whipped forward, snapping off of the main trunk of the tree. Armin’s hook hung onto the pine’s trunk for a second before being torn off., another branch flying off the tree and striking him just above his eyes.  
“Armin!” Reiner shouted wildly as his fellow soldier and friend's body continued to rush at the ground, his dark green cape barely visible. Less than a split second later, Reiner just barely heard the whirring of gears and a blast of concentrated gas over the cacophony of the storm. Tilting his head up to look at the source of the sound, the teen saw that Annie had leapt from her perch, but her hook was tossed around by the winds and missed its target of a tree across the road from the rest of the group. The world seemed to slow down as Reiner heard Bertolt call out to Annie, but he stayed locked onto her, who had instantly realized she was without an anchor and pivoted herself to dive directly towards Armin, who was only about ten meters off the ground now and still falling quickly. Reiner felt as though he was frozen where he stood and could do nothing but watch as Annie continued to release a stream of gas and shoot towards Armin like an arrow.   
Stopping the gas and angling herself skillfully, Annie twisted her body to face up at Armin’s backside, keeping herself directly below him as they both fell to the path below. Looking over to Reiner and Bertolt, Annie’s light blue eyes were just barely open as she raised her clenched fist to her mouth, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve betrayed the mission. You two will need to finish it with me against you.’ Closing her eyes completely, Annie sunk her teeth into the base of her thumb, feeling a burning heat as a mass of flesh exploded into being around her, the sound of the electric blast that accompanied the transformation roaring over the din of the storm and carrying through the entire forest. The back of the newly formed giant slammed into the ground, and a pair of nearly skinless hands enclosed around and brought the unconscious body of Armin Arlert to the chest of the Titan that was now lying on the ground before the four stunned Scouts in the trees, the rain continuing to pour down as if nothing had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah the first section was a flashback, I wanted to show how Armin and Annie first wound up interacting in this particular verse. Since they are both intellectuals, I figured "hey, why not have them try to outsmart each other?" Thus, Annie's flashback was born! Hope you all enjoyed, please like and share this story if you did!
> 
> P.S: If you couldn't tell by the whole "sudden downpour," I recently just bought both volumes of ACWNR and decided to incorporate that part of the story into this one!


	8. Reaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish I had uploaded this sooner, I have no excuse other than that I am hella lazy. Eh, here it is! Also: I edited the end of Chapter 7 a bit, just to clean up some word choice that has been bugging me. Hope you all enjoy!

“Um, sir?” Eren squinted towards the small figure of Levi, but was unable to clearly see him due to the wind and rain whipping at his face, “what are your orders? I mean, do we continue the drills or do we go back or do we-“  
“Quit your whining, you brat!” Oluo’s sneering shout just barely registered in Eren’s ears over the sound of the storm, “of course the captain know what he’s doing, or do you have some shitty plan in that empty head of yours?!”  
Petra had been squeezing her eyes shut to attempt and ignore the two soldier’s shouts, but spoke up regardless. “Both of you, be quiet right now! Your bickering isn’t helping us, so stop it!” Oluo and Eren immediately fell silent, but after a few seconds with no sounds but the pouring rain, Oluo opened his mouth to retort and found his voice drowned out by what sounded like a gunpowder explosion as a bright flash of light shone out from the trees to the group’s right.   
“Captain Levi!” Gunther shouted up at the still-silent man from a lower branch, “that light… Isn’t that the same light that appears when Eren transforms?”  
“What?!” Eren looked back over at where the flash came from, and pictured the chart showing the locations of soldiers during this drill. “That’s where Armin is! Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt too! We have to help them!”  
“Would you shut it?!” Oluo unsheathed a pair of his blades and squatted slightly, as if he intended to pounce on Eren. “Don’t you dare make one move! I’ll take you down right on the spot, just try me and see if I’m kidding!”  
“We’re going to assist Squad Ness, but do not draw your blades unless I say.” Levi’s command just managed to carry over the howling wind, and Oluo reluctantly put away his swords. Without another word, the black-haired man stepped off his branch and rocketed past the rest of his squad, who quickly followed him, naturally melting into a formation with Eren in the center.  
_‘Armin… Everyone… What happened?’_ Eren tightened his grip on his trigger, shooting forward with just enough acceleration for the rest of the Special Operations Squad to adjust their speeds to keep him surrounded.  
****************  
At the scene of Annie’s sudden transformation, Ness and Sis had their blades drawn and were circling the giant form of the Female Titan like vultures, keeping a careful watch on her hands , which still held Armin. Bertolt and Reiner still watched silently from the shaking branches of a nearby tree, staring at the face of the Titan as it followed Ness and Sis’ movements through narrowed eyes. “The entire Scout Regiment will be here soon… What do we do?” Bertolt looked at Reiner for an answer.  
“Nothing.” Bertolt’s eyes widened in surprise at the coldness in Reiner’s tone, “She knew exactly what she was doing, Annie’s not the type to just decide to jump out of a tree and suddenly reveal her secret to the enemy. She thought this through, she intended to betray us anyway sooner or later.” Eyes full of distress, Bertolt looked back at Annie, who had begun to sit herself up, prompting the two who were watching her to land and balance on either side of a tree behind her neck, ready to hook onto and cut open her nape if she proved herself hostile.  
Without warning, the Female Titan opened up its hands to see the condition of the boy she held. Holding Armin’s unconscious body closer to her face, she noticed a trickle of blood coming from his forehead. Without warning, Armin’s blue eyes opened just the smallest amount, and he locked eyes with Annie. The two stared at each other soundlessly as the rain continued to wash over them, the skinless segments of Annie’s body releasing wisps of steam as the cool water met with burning flesh. Moments later, shouting voices and whirring gears announced the arrival of more soldiers, others quickly joining their ranks and surrounding the silent giant.  
Above the sitting Titan, Erwin nodded to Hange, who then dove down in front of Annie from a nearby tree. Looking up at her, Hange’s eyes were obscured by their water-soaked goggles as the Female Titan looked back from her to Armin with suspicious blue eyes.  
“Hello there, have we met before?” Hange asked casually, earning an array of confused and surprised expressions from the surrounding Scouts. Wordlessly, the Female Titan nodded her head once, her eyes never leaving the swords Hange carried. Noticing the response, Hange’s lips turned up in a small smile, “Ah, so you understand me! That’s good, so I can assume you’re like a friend of mine, and have a person in here?” Hange tapped the back of their neck, earning another small nod, which brightened their face further, “I see you have someone in your hands, may I have a look at them? I assume you don’t plan to eat them after all!” The Female Titan’s eyes remained neutral, but she lowered Armin down so that Hange could see him. “This is Armin Arlert… One of the new recruits,” looking back up at the Female Titan, Hange grinned, “then I can guess who you are, but I won’t say right now. After all, I made you a promise that I wouldn’t talk about that!” Annie’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the comment, remembering what Hange had seen before.  
“Listen, I need you to give Armin to us so we can take care of him, would that be alright with you?” After a slight pause with which the entirety of the Scout Regiment held its breath, Annie gave her usual small nod and lowered Armin as close to Hange as she could so that he could be retrieved. “Thank you,” with a wave of their hand, Hange beckoned two soldiers to come and retrieve Armin, both staring with apprehensive looks up at the Female Titan as they did so, and quickly taking him to a pair of horses nearby, one of the men carrying the barely conscious teen on his back as the two soldiers began to slowly leave, watching the motionless Titan with nervous faces. “Listen… I hate to do this, but you need to come out of there, do you need help or can you manage it yourself?” Nearby, Captain Levi took out a pair of blades and left his squad behind once again, leaving them to stare at his back as he flew off, but Eren’s eyes stayed locked on the Female Titan’s nape, waiting to see whoever was controlling the giant. Narrowing her eyes and looking up at Levi as he positioned himself up the tree Ness and Sis remained on, the Female Titan lowered her head as a jet of steam exploded out of the newly created slit on the back of her neck. “Thank you again,” Hange called out, “and I’m sorry about this…” Out of nowhere, a crowd of soldiers landed on the ground in a complete circle around the Titan made by the now smoke-shrouded Annie Leonhart, each pointing their blades at her, “but you’re going to need to come with us, whether you want to or not.”   
****************  
Annie blinked her eyes twice as she awakened, forgetting where she was for a moment. Casually, she tried to move her hand and rub the sleep from her eyes, but found each of her hands were chained to the walls on either side of her. ‘Right,’ Annie sat up as much as she could and looked out of the barred door of her cell at the patches on the backs of the two gun-wielding Military Police casually talking to each other, ‘I’m being held by the Military Police, until they decide what to do with me.’  
Hearing the quiet rattle of chains as Annie tried to move, one of the guards whipped around and aimed his gone at her, clicking off the safety, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?” The other one looked at his comrade and chuckled uncaringly, taking out his flask and drinking. Locking eyes with the startled soldier, Annie glared at him silently, her ice-blue eyes glinting as they reflected the torch just outside her cell. The two stared at each other, neither daring to look away, until the soldier stood up straight again and turned the gun’s safety back on, stowing it behind his back, “don’t think I won’t kill you just because you look like a little girl, monster,” he snarled, turning his back to her and facing the wall opposite Annie’s cell again.  
After what seemed like hours, with the only sounds being the occasional talk of her guards and the quiet crackle of the torch which illuminated the narrow hall, a pair of footsteps could be heard approaching. Out of nowhere, Hange appeared and grabbed one of the bars of Annie’s door, startling the guard who had aimed at Annie before. Wordlessly, Hange looked at the imprisoned teen, regarding the shackles holding down her arms, “those look uncomfortable… But don’t worry!” Their voice brightened and a smile pulled the corners of their lips upwards, “we’ll get you out soon!” As Hange promised this, a tall and blond man walked in, looking at Annie for a moment before sniffing twice through his nose, then nodding and holding his hand out to a guard, who stood still for a moment before holding out a key to him and let him take it. “This here is Mike Zacharias,” Hange explained as Mike wordlessly unlocked the cell door, prompting both Military Policemen to turn around and face Annie, each with a hand on their guns in case Annie did something they did not approve, “I need you to come with the two of us, don’t want to be late now, do we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap for this much-delayed installation! What fate could possibly await our beloved Ms. Leonhart? Find out as soon as I get off my lazy ass and continue this fic!
> 
> Please like and share if you enjoyed!!


	9. Trial of Allegiances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the dialogue chapter! This one was a ton of fun to write, the little details to distinguish how each character's personalities varies was great! Plus, got to put in Pixis, the most lovable old man imaginable~ Hope you all enjoy this!

After walking up a winding set of stairs, Annie was greeted by the harsh glare of the sun, which made her squint. Once her vision had adjusted from the gloom of her prison, she looked around at the hall she was being marched down, keeping a seemingly uncaring gaze on the Military Police, who slouched lazily against the wall, but were all watching her nervously. “They’re scared of you, you know,” Hange whispered, looking down at Annie for a moment as they walked beside the still handcuffed teen, “they’ve never even seen a Titan before, and they don’t really want to ever see one.”  
“Shut up,” one of the Police’s soldiers who was walking besides them sneered at Hange, “you’re really just upset because you weren’t skilled enough to get into the Military Police.”  
“Hey, be quiet.” Another guard whispered from behind Annie, “they’re friends with that Titan chick, what if they get her to attack us?”  
“Both of you, shut the hell up!” This time, a deeper and seemingly older voice commanded from behind them. Glancing behind her, Annie saw a dark-haired man wearing a red bolo tie, “we’re here to guard this one, not bicker with the Scouting Legion. Understood?”  
“Yes, Commander Dok,” the soldiers closest to Annie murmured lazily, still looking at Hange and Annie as if they were some odd type of beasts. Chuckling from the other soldiers’ silence Hange and all of Annie’s guards stopped outside two thick wooden doors.  
“Well, we’re here,” Hange said, looking over to Annie, “don’t be nervous, Eren went through the same thing after he saved Trost.” Before Hange could add anything more, Annie was marched to the doors by two of the guards, who seized her arms roughly, while two other guards opened up the doors, revealing a wide room with filled benches on either side, and a small raised platform in front of a desk, which was situated on top of a higher stand and occupied by an elderly man, whom she assumed to be the military’s high commander, Darius Zackly, who had the Garrison Regiment’s Commander, Dot Pixis, standing beside him with a pair of soldiers. Looking to the right stand of benches, Annie watched as Commander Dok walked up to the stands with several of the soldiers who had accompanied Annie earlier, joining a group of people who appeared to be average citizens and several men clad in large metal necklaces bearing the faces given to the three Walls.  
Shifting her gaze to the other side of the room, Annie looked over at the group of soldiers clad in Scouting Legion jackets, noting the presence of Commander Erwin Smith, and Squad Leaders Hange Zoë and Mike Zacharias. Looking further down the row, Annie’s eyes widened very slightly when she saw Armin and Bertolt standing beside their teacher, Dieter Ness, ‘what’re those two doing here?’ Annie’s silent thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of Darius Zackly smacking his fingers a few times on the wooden surface of his desk.  
“This trial is now in session,” Zackly muttered, his expression and voice bored, “we are here to discuss the fate of Annie Leonhart, who has revealed herself to be similar to the boy now in custody of the Scouting Legion, Eren Yeager, in that she reportedly can become a Titan at will. Today’s trial will decide her fate, and whether she will remain with the Scouts or be given to the Military Police.” Repositioning himself, Zackly turned to face the side occupied by Nile and the Police, “Commander Dok, state what you plan to do with Ms. Leonhart should she put under your jurisdiction.”  
“Yes sir,” Nile said clearly, in a business-like manner. Glancing down at a small stack of papers in his hand, Nile looked up to Zackly and continued speaking, “we of the Military Police intend to question Ms. Leonhart, then dissect her and thoroughly study her body, after which we would promptly dispose of her body.” Looking to Annie from the corners of his eyes, Nile’s expression becoming an almost imperceptible glare, “the Scouting Legion has Eren Yeager, I believe it would be beneficial for us to study both a living Titan shifter’s abilities, and the biology of a deceased one.”  
Zackly stared blankly at Nile for several moments after he had finished speaking, his face remaining bored and unchanging. Seemingly satisfied, he turned to face Erwin, the chair he sat on creaking slightly, “Commander Smith, state your case.”  
“Thank you, High Commander Zackly,” Erwin said coolly, giving a quick salute before standing with his hands behind his back and his head held up to allow his voice to travel. “We have held custody of Ms. Leonhart for the past month, and believe it in our best interest to keep her with us. Not only for the sake of her Titan abilities, which we intend to make use of as we have with Eren Yeager, but also to respect her choice in joining us. I hold a deep respect for each cadet who joins us, it takes courage to fight the Titans in their own territory, and Annie Leonhart is no different.” Erwin looked down at Annie as Nile had before, but his expression did not change from when he had been looking at Zackly, “she would be placed under the watch of Mike Zacharias and his squad, as they are second only to Levi and the Special Operations Squad, and I would like to avoid overwhelming either of these two elite groups with the task of guarding both Eren Yeager and Annie Leonhart.  
“Commander Smith, if I may interrupt,” Zackly spoke up, looking at Erwin with his brows furrowed in thought, “what proof do you have of Ms. Leonhart’s allegiances? I understand that you encourage your soldiers to give up everything for the greater good of humanity, but how do you know of her true intent?” From the side opposite the Scouts, a few of the Military Police and several of the Wallists and citizens smiled and chuckled quietly to one another, feeling the question to be unanswerable.  
“Of course, sir.” Erwin replied, his face and tone unchanged by the reactions of the group opposing him, “that’s why I’ve brought three of the soldiers who saw Ms. Leonhart become a Titan,” he gestured to his left, “Armin Arlert, Bertolt Hoover and Dieter Ness.” Almost immediately, all eyes shifted to Armin and Ness, the former of which glanced down at the ground out of nervousness but stood up straighter in surprise as he felt Hange place their hand down on his shoulder suddenly and give him a comforting grin, to which he smiled shyly.  
“Thank you, Commander,” Ness nodded at Erwin respectfully, then looked up at Zackly. “During a practice involving the 3D Maneuver Gear, in which I and Luke Siss was tasked with leading several cadets, including Ms. Leonhart, Bertolt Hoover and Armin Arlert, we were caught off guard by a sudden downpour, so I ordered my group into the trees surrounding us while we awaited instruction. Armin foul-hooked into a tree and fell out, and was knocked unconscious by a falling branch,” Ness placed his hand on Armin’s shoulder, looking resolutely at Zackly. “Annie turned into a Titan to save him.”  
“If I may ask you,” Pixis broke his silence, looking thoughtfully at Annie, “what did her Titan form look like?”  
“Um, well,” Ness thought for a moment, “I’d say a fourteen-meter class, but different in that it was partially skinless and her body looked feminine, rather than masculine like most other Titans.”  
“Female in what ways?” Suddenly, Pixis’ female attendant gave him a small nudge with her shoulder, cutting off his sentence. Due to her actions, Pixis huffed in annoyance, continuing to look at Annie, who ignored him.  
Zackly nodded once, satisfied with Ness’ statement, “before I make my decision, I would like to hear from you as well, Annie Leonhart.” Zackly positioned his chair to look directly in front of him, at Annie, “I would like to hear what you have to say for yourself, what are you here for?”  
For several moments, over which a complete silence fell over the room, Annie stared up at Zackly, thinking over her answer. “I’m here to be a soldier,” Annie spoke clearly, her voice holding its usual monotone, “I used my Titan abilities to save Armin because he is someone very close to me, we shared a trainee class and he is my ally in the Scouting Legion. My choice was made the moment I joined the Scouting Legion, I am a soldier of humanity.” Listening from the sidelines, Bertolt’s expression fell, realizing what Annie truly meant.  
Studying Annie for a moment with his eyes narrowed in thought, Zackly nodded his head, “I’ve reached my decision.” Zackly spoke quietly but clearly, just loud enough for the room to hear him, “Annie Leonhart will remain in the custody of the Scouting Legion, under the watch of Squad Zacharias. She will be kept under the same conditions made for Eren Yeager, and we shall have a retrial after their first expedition outside the Walls to assess how useful they truly are.” Zackly’s voice became slightly louder with his final statement, and he tapped his fingers loudly three times on his desk, announcing the end of Annie's trial.  
****************  
“Whew! That went better than expected,” Hange laughed warm-heartedly, closing the door to the small room which held themselves, Erwin, Mike, and Annie, the latter of which was sitting on a couch with Mike standing next to her, “good work, Erwin, bringing in Ness and those two was a much better idea than having secondary sources like us try to explain what happened. And Annie!” Hange quickly walked across the room and sat down on the couch beside the blonde teen, “You did great too, you responded perfectly to Zackly’s questions, even though we didn’t let you know he would ask any!”  
The energy with which Hange spoke made Annie slightly off-put, and she moved sideways a tiny bit, “Thank you,” she said curtly, “what am I supposed to do now?”  
“You’ll be put under Mike and his squad’s care,” Erwin spoke up from a chair in front of the couch, gesturing to the tall man who had unlocked Annie’s cell earlier that day, “he’ll be in charge of keeping an eye on you and the experiments Hange plans for both you and Eren, I assume you’ll have the two of them working jointly with one another?”  
“Oh yes, I plan to make full use of both of your abilities…” Hange’s voice changed with her response to Erwin’s question, and their glasses glinted creepily in the light filtering in through the window, “think of all the possibilities we have now, not to mention that we can practice coordinating the two of you to better help protect soldiers in the field.” Looking over Annie’s head at Mike, who had been silently but intently listening to the conversation, Hange asked, “When do you think Annie can start training, Mike?”  
Mike looked down at Annie, and she looked back up at him and their eyes met for a moment, sniffing through his nose twice like he had done in the courtroom’s dungeon, “I suggest we start in two days, tomorrow I would like Annie to meet with my squad for the day. I believe it would be more helpful for us to know and understand each other so we can work efficiently as a group.”  
The room’s door opened up and a blonde woman walked in and gave a salute, which Mike returned, “the carriage for us and the one for Commander Erwin and Squad Leader Zoë are both ready outside, sir.”  
“Thank you, Nanaba,” Erwin said to Nanaba, despite not directly facing her. Once he had stood up and begun walking towards the door, Hange rose and followed him, giving Nanaba a small wave when they passed her. Seeing those two leave, Annie took it as permission to rise and exit as well, Mike keeping true to his job of keeping watch of her and following close behind. Nanaba followed Annie and Mike out, closing the door behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darius Zackly is honestly one of the most interesting characters to write in my opinion. I never understood why he let Eren go with the Scouts so easily, but his role in Erwin's coup explained that very clearly, so it helped me with letting him allow Annie to join them too. Please leave kudos and share this if you enjoyed~!


	10. Suspects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been literally a month and I am sorry ;-; Finals are coming up and I am hella busy. GOOD NEWS THOUGH! An original work of mine may be getting published soon, I'll say when it is here and on my tumblr, kaiju-and-kyojin.tumblr.com! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

“So this is Annie, then?” A light-haired man who was seated beside asked as Annie entered the carriage with Nanaba and Mike. Seated with that man was a similar-looking man and a woman who somewhat resembled Sasha, “The name’s Gelgar, I’m part of Mike’s squad. This here’s Lynne and Henning.” The woman Gelgar identified as Lynne gave a small wave and Henning nodded in greeting, Annie nodded silently back. The carriage driver looked back once to ensure they were all seated before looking back forward and giving the reins of the horses a quick two snaps with the reins he held to get them moving.  
After a short while, Henning attempted to start a conversation, “So, you can turn into a Titan, huh? How does it work exactly?”  
“I’m not too sure,” Annie lied, raising her right hand up slightly, “when I transformed to save Armin, I remember biting my hand but I'm pretty sure there’s more to it than that.”  
“Haha, yeah, if all it took to turn into a 14-meter tall giant was a cut on the hand, our jobs would be way easier,” Henning joked, rubbing his nose with his knuckle. He appeared to be about to continue, but stopped immediately when he noticed Mike was sniffing quickly through his nose, his face pointed upwards, “Squad leader? What’s up?”  
Mike’s gaze turned to Gelgar, who looked away nervously, his hands in his lap. “Gelgar… I thought I said no alcohol during work hours,” besides Annie, Mike, and Gelgar himself, the cart burst into laughter, this seeming to be a common occurrence with them, “give it here.” Reluctantly, Gelgar handed over the bronze flask he had hidden under his Scouting Legion jacket to Mike, who popped open the cap of the container and took a whiff of the drink it held, “It’s a bit early in the evening for whiskey, isn’t it?” Gelgar opened his mouth to respond but stopped with his mouth still hanging open as Mike chugged the small amount of drink still in the flask, all of the carriage’s occupants looking at their squad leader in surprise as he handed the flask back to Gelgar, “So you don’t drink any more than you already have.” He sniffed, looking out the window of the carriage at color-streaked sky above them, his eyes caught by a v-shaped formation of several birds with one further in front than the rest.  
****************  
“Hey, guys,” Armin sat beside Connie and Bertolt sat across from him, next to Krista, “what did we miss?”  
“You know, same old same old,” Sasha spoke with a sarcastic tone, stirring her stew absentmindedly with her spoon, “everyone trying to figure out if our friend is a traitor who wants to kill us. What about you guys?”  
“Annie’s not a traitor and she doesn’t want to kill us,” Armin protested, “we were at her trial today.”  
“Aw man! That’s where you guys went?” Connie sank back into his chair, covering his face with his hand, “wish I could’ve come, it would’ve been way better than sitting here and having people ask if I knew anything about Annie and if she wanted to kill us all or not.”  
“What did she say exactly, Armin?” Reiner asked from the end of the table, taking a large bite of his bread.  
“She said she was a soldier of humanity.” Bertolt interrupted, looking at Reiner with a solemn expression, “and that she always has been, from the moment she joined the Scouting Legion.”  
Swallowing his bread, Reiner let out a large exhalation of breath, “That’s good to hear. I’m glad she’s on our side, now we’ve got both her and Eren to back us up!” Sasha and Connie raised their glasses in agreement, the two of them then taking a drink simultaneously. Without further comment, Bertolt stood up and walked out of the dining hall, leaving his food untouched behind him.  
“Huh, wonder what his deal is,” Connie mused, lifting up his bowl and drinking the soup directly from it. “Hey, Sash, Bertl left his dinner behind, you want it?”  
“No you don’t,” Reiner got up and lifted the bowl out of Sasha’s reach before the brunette could snatch it up, “this is Bertolt’s, I’ll bring it to him and see what’s bothering him.” With that explanation, Reiner turned around and began walking to the door, Bertolt’s soup in his hand.  
“Heh, that Reiner, always looking out for everyone,” Connie shook his head, and took a sip of his water, “I wonder if he was always like that?”   
****************  
Bertolt sat with his knees drawn up tightly to his chest, his hands tightly crossed across his legs with his nails digging into his elbows and cutting into his skin. His retreat from the dining hall had led him into the grove of trees where he had been with the 104th just a few days prior, where he now sat alone with his back against a tree's rough bark. _‘They’re gone… They’ve both left me… Why did they leave me?’_ Bertolt let out a quiet sob and pressed his forehead against his knees, his eyes squeezed tight in a failed attempt to keep any tears from rolling down his cheeks, continuing to try and will his emotions down as he had been doing ever since he had started his false life as a soldier.  
“There you are, you forget your dinner in the dining hall,” the familiar voice that used to remind Bertolt of the comforts of home now only made him feel lonelier, and he pulled his knees even closer to himself, wishing he could vanish into himself. “Bert?” Reiner kneeled down in front of him and placed the now cold soup off to the side, “what’s wrong?”  
“Reiner…” Bertolt choked out his name as he looked over his knees at the blond, his narrow green eyes just visible over his knees, “what are you?”  
“Huh? What kind of question is that?” Reiner tried to move Bertolt’s hands off of his elbows, but to no avail, “I’m me of course, Reiner Braun, a soldier! Who else could I be?”  
The response was expected, but that fact only succeeded in upsetting Bertolt further. Releasing the hold he had on himself and not caring who saw or heard, Bertolt gripped Reiner’s biceps and allowed the scratches he made on his elbows to heal at the accelerated rate using the power granted him, steam emitting from his scraped skin. Pulling himself towards Reiner and Reiner towards him, Bertolt cried out, “A warrior! Why don't you remember?!” Bertolt’s emotional cry far exceeded his usual quiet tone and surprised Reiner greatly, as did the tears pouring down the brunet teen’s face, "Why, why did you leave me?" The outburst of emotion contrasted greatly with the quiet facade Bertolt kept up around the people who typically surrounded them, and the streams of tears that came from his light green eyes served as an outlet for the bottled up sadness built up over the past three years.  
Reiner’s eyes widened as he realized what Bertolt was talking about, and their true reason for being a part of this society. The flood of emotions that swept over him as each fact of his life came rushing back to him was more than the teen could handle, so he took hold of Bertolt's shoulders and pulled him into an embrace for both of their comfort, “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry…” Reiner kept choking out apologies, his throat becoming tight as he held in his own sobs.  
****************  
“Well! That went surprisingly smoothly, what do you think, Erwin?” Hange complimented their commander as they rode home in their carriage.  
Hange’s typical level of energy caused Erwin to smile almost imperceptibly, “Yes, I’m glad we were able to keep Annie in our custody.” After a few more moments had passed, Erwin’s expression and tone became businesslike again, “were you able to observe the boy we had Ness bring as well?”  
“Yes, and he only appeared most impacted by Annie’s claim to be a soldier of humanity,” Hange fiddled with their hands, “that’s not nearly enough to support the beliefs we have about him.”  
Reaching into his jacket, Erwin removed a small stack of folders, each with a name written on the top right corner, “Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover… Their connection to Annie is not only their time spent in training, but their hometown is shared as well, it seems to be worth looking into if they knew anything about Annie’s abilities prior to her most recent transformation.”  
“Erwin, I understand the concern of a Titan spy coming in during the Maria attack, or even during the Trost attack, but what makes these boys stand out so much?” Hange’s question gave a voice to the same question in Erwin’s mind, “Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert are both from the Shiganshina, like Eren, but we haven’t looked into them being Titans!”  
“That’s because we have definite records of both Armin and Eren’s births in Shiganshina, and of Mikasa living further in Wall Maria before being brought to the Yeager household following her parents’ murder by slave traders, whom she killed with Eren’s assistance,” Erwin’s claims were backed up by two of the other folders he held, one carrying Armin’s name and the other bearing Mikasa’s, “we have no records of Reiner, Bertolt or Annie before they were signed into the refugee groups and then enrolled into the 104th Trainee Squad.”  
Hange let out a sigh, rubbing the back of their neck, “I see your point, Erwin, I just don’t want it to be true. It would mean that those two, possibly three depending on Annie's level of involvement, are humanity’s greatest enemies and the reasons for the losses of over one-fifth of the population.” Moving her hand from behind their neck to the front of their face, Hange readjusted their glasses, “should we put a watch on them? My squad and I are going to be busy with Eren and Annie, same with Levi and Mike’s.”  
Erwin thought for a moment, considering Hange’s input, “A whole squad may make them nervous and more likely to lash out… I suggest one or two soldiers watching them from a distance, to keep from arousing suspicion, someone who they know well enough to be trustworthy of...” after a few more moments’ thought, the ideal person came to Erwin’s mind, “Ness. He’s with the newer recruits just about every day before their first expedition, and he shares a bunk with both Reiner and Bertolt. With the delay on the 57th Expedition, he has more time to keep watch over them during the time it takes to reschedule and modify the plan to include Annie.”  
Hange nodded along with Erwin’s explanation for his choice of Ness, “I agree, but you give him the order to watch them. He loves those kids, he definitely wouldn’t listen to me about this.”  
Erwin put the folders back into his jacket as Hange spoke, noticing the carriage slowing to a stop, “I will. Make sure you learn everything you can from both Annie and Eren.”  
“As if anyone could stop me,” Hange joked, standing up off of the seat as the carriage stopped completely, shaking them a bit where they stood.  
“Oh, in all the commotion over Annie I’d nearly forgotten,” Hange turned around to face Erwin once he had stepped out of the carriage behind them, “how have you been coping with the deaths of Sonny and Bean? We lost two great assets, I know it must be hard for you.”  
Smiling fondly as they remembered the two slain test subjects, Hange sighed, “I’m fine… I miss them though, I was just getting to know them…” Placing their hand on Erwin’s shoulder, they gave an amicable squeeze, “Nice of you to remember their names Erwin, everyone else seems to have forgotten.”  
Shrugging, Erwin said humbly, “It’s the least I could do, after all those two would have been great assets to humanity –“ Hange’s sudden snort cut him off and he raised his brows at them, “What?”  
“Nothing, nothing.” Truthfully, Erwin’s constant use of the word humanity made Hange laugh more often than not. For such a talented commander, he should have a large vocabulary right? Walking towards the headquarters, Hange gave a wave without turning around, “Have a good night, Commander!”  
Still confused by Hange’s actions Erwin gave a small wave, “You too, Hange.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned and immediately wrote the angstiest Reibert I could at the moment, aren't you all glad I'm back~? Please leave kudos and share if you enjoyed, au revoir for now!


	11. Beginning of a New Role

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it has been quiiiiiiite a while since the last update for this XDDD I have been at two camps and down to the beach so I had very little time to work with, but here it is! Now introducing Banana Mom~

The now-familiar burst of steam and chill of outside air filled Eren’s senses as he emerged from his Titan form, not quite remembering why he was in it in the first place. Looking around, his green eyes widened when he saw what seemed to be the entire Scouting Legion forming a half-circle in front of him with their swords drawn. _’What’s going on, what did I –‘_ His train of thought came to a complete halt when he saw what lay behind him out of the corner of his eye, a massacre of humans, soldiers and citizens, lying among the feet of Titans which stood ominously still behind the Shifter like loyal dogs.  
The three people standing in front of Eren were people he knew well, Armin and Mikasa had their backs to him and Levi was standing facing them. Armin seemed to be yelling frantically but Eren could not make out the words, Levi and Mikasa stood staring each other down, the latter turning to face him, her cheek streaked with blood, her eyes wide with relief upon seeing him emerging from the Titan carcass,   
“Eren…”  
“Mikasa! Armin! What’s going on here?!” Even as he spoke, Levi sidestepped around Armin, his eyes narrowed dangerously at Eren. Quickly, Mikasa also stepped behind Armin with her face twisted in sudden anger, “Captain..?” Desperately, Eren tried to remember what had taken place to land him in this situation.  
“Explanation, Yeager. Now.” Levi’s voice was monotonous, yet dripped with a venom that sent chills down Eren’s back.  
“Explanation..?” Leaning forward, Eren winced when he felt himself be jerked back to where he was before. Looking behind himself, the cause of his entrapment was the flesh fusing his legs to his Titan body. That was not what caught Eren’s attention the most though, rather a face holding more hatred in his young heart than even the Colossal Titan’s. Mikasa seemed to see it too, for her arms now hung limply by her sides with blades still firmly in hand. “No… Not you..!”  
Without any words, his mother’s murderer reached out a hand to Eren, who struggled frantically in the neck of his comatose Titan body. “Wait... Wait wait wait! I have kill you, I have to kill you!”  
****************  
“I have to kill you!!” Awakening, Eren shouted his vow at the cold metal bars of his cell. Huffing due to a lack of breath he clutches his chest, raising a brow while staring down through the darkness at the dim outline of his hand. _‘What was I dreaming..? I’m so tired…’_ Pulling his thin blanket back over himself, Eren adjusted himself and closed his eyes in an effort to sleep.  
After a few moments like this, Eren’s eyes opened wide as a sudden feeling came over him. _Bathroom._ Tossing the blanket off of him, Eren hurried to the small cistern in the corner of his room. About halfway there, a faint voice from the cell next to his became apparent to him. “Whoosh…” Looking around Eren wondered where the noise came from, remembering his new neighbor after a few moments he relaxed.  
_‘So even Annie talks in her sleep, huh?’_   
****************  
The forest was filled with a thick fog which had spread like a damp white towel across the small clearing in which Annie trained. All the small blonde child could see around her were the small trees which had white padding placed on them by her father, whose silhouette she could barely make out in the murk. Her breath was slightly ragged, it had felt like days since she had woken up to begin the drills her father got her do nearly all day every day. “Good, Annie!” His deep voice carried with a faint echo to her ears, his praise pushing her to continue to batter away at the pad, “I expect nothing less from my daughter, you’ll be a fine warrior when the time comes!”  
In a split second, Annie felt the weight of her father’s arms surrounding her, then the heat and light pressure which she recognized as her Titan body wrapped up her small form, smothering her slightly. Finally she felt the wet grass, telling her she was laying on the cold ground before her eyes even reopened, the chilly dew on the grass and the fog standing in sharp contrast to the previous two sensations Annie had felt. Looking up from her position sprawled across the forest floor, she could make out the torn and bloodied remains of her father strewn across the damp grass and small set of stairs leading up into their house.  
Despite the horror of once again recalling what she had done, Annie woke up silently, but her eyes instantly shot wide open upon her awakening in silent response to her second recollection of her father’s fate. It appeared her dream was not the only reason for Annie’s awakening, as two distinctly different pairs of footsteps could be heard coming down the steps into the cellar which held both her and Eren.  
“Oi, brats.” Levi’s near monotonous voice cut into the silence of the dungeon as he stepped off of the bottom stair with Mike following. Walking over to Eren’s cell, Levi inserted the door’s key and opened it, Mike doing the same to Annie’s. “Get up,” To drive the point home, Levi knocked on the metal bars of the cell door insistently.  
“Good morning, Captain!” Stepping in front of Levi and giving a salute, Eren’s voice echoed around the dark stone room, the volume causing Annie to shut her eyes and breathe deeply in through her nose and out her mouth in annoyance while she walked out of her own stone room, Mike holding the barred door open for her and shutting it after she had exited.  
Levi was just as annoyed as Annie if not more so, his eyes closing as he raised a hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Dammit, it’s too early for that loud shit.” Now slightly embarrassed with himself, Eren nodded his head in apology, his nose and cheeks a touch reddened. Turning around, Levi began walking back to the stairs behind Annie and Mike, Eren following after them.  
Walking up the stairs, Mike asked with a look over his shoulder back at the two teens, “Did you both sleep well?”  
Annie hummed in a quiet reply, her eyes half closed in tiredness and her expression bland. On the other hand, Eren’s reply was more enthusiastic, “Yes, and you, sir?” Mike nodded, his face neutral, “and you Captain? How did you sleep?”  
“Shitty, can you not see my eyes?” Eren hadn’t noticed any difference in Levi’s face, since his eyes always appeared half-lidded and circled by a tinge of darkened skin, “Now stop asking your dumbass questions, there’ll be plenty of that from that one today…” Reaching the stairwell exit, the two Scout Regiment veterans led their charges into the hallway, which was extremely bright in comparison to the dark dungeon that had been left behind thanks to the high windows that let in the morning sun. For a short time, the quartet travelled in silence until Eren remembered a question he had thought of the night before.  
“Hey, Annie,” A small hum of acknowledgement let Eren know he had the blonde’s attention, so he continued, “were you dreaming last night?”  
Annie’s eyes widened, her mind running over each detail of her dream in case she had spoken in her sleep and given anything away. Remembering she herself hadn’t said anything and remained been silent throughout the entire thing, she still lied anyway and said in her usual bored-sounding tone, “No, why’s it your business?”  
“Oh, never mind then,” Eren placed his hands on the back of his neck and stretched, letting out a small noise as he did. “I thought I heard someone saying ‘Whoosh’ when I woke up to use the restroom last night, must’ve been the wind or something.” Instantly, a very light dusting of red appeared on Annie’s cheeks when she remembered how the girls who slept closest to her had called her out on saying that same thing in her sleep during their time in training.  
“Oi, we can talk about each other’s bowel movements later.” Levi’s joke caused Mike to let out a small huff of laughter through his nose, Eren look at him in surprise at the unexpected humor and Annie had no reaction as she was still thinking about her embarrassing night habit to really register it. She did look up when Mike held open a large wooden door for them due to the high pitched squeak of the old metal hinges. The four all walked into the voice-filled room, Levi in the front of their group and Mike taking up the rear.  
Two tables in the dining hall had been set aside for Squads Levi and Zacharias, tucked away in a corner and the commotion of mealtime. From their respective positions, Eren and Annie could just catch glimpses of the 104th cadets who had joined the Scouting Legion over the heads of the other soldiers sitting in various seats around the somewhat crowded room. The members of the two elite squads all ate with a slight rush on this particular morning for they each had an early assignment regarding their new charges. Despite the hurried eating of their squads, both of the rookie Scouts ate with little to no rush.  
“Oi, greenhorn,” Oluo’s signature sneer was not lost in his voice despite how early in the morning it was, “hurry it up. We’re not gonna wait up for you if you don’t finish in time, and we’re not gonna spoon-feed you either, got it?”  
“Yes sir I understand.” Eren’s reply was a touch monotonous, Oluo’s rudeness becoming a part of everyday life he had grown more accustomed to, but by no means more fond of.  
“Are you nervous, Eren?” Petra’s voice still carried an undertone of sleepiness, and her eyes were just barely a shade duller than when she was fully awake, “it’s alright if you are, just let us know, okay?”  
The question caught Eren slightly off-guard, “N-no, I’m alright.” As if to prove his words by actions, he began eating quicker and nearly choked on a piece of his bread but quickly drank a large gulp of water and washed it down.  
“Hey Annie, are you nervous at all?” Annie had the feeling Nanaba was asking only because it was what Petra asked Eren. To humor her, Annie replied silently with a shake of her head and took a sizeable bite of her bread, “if you say so, but it’s alright to be anxious y’know, I would be if I was you.”  
“Especially with Hange testing you, yeesh…” Gelgar shook his head, taking a large drink from his water jug and smiling cheekily at Annie, attempting humor, “You better hope they don’t try and ask for a urine sample or something, that’d be gross.”  
“Gelgar!” Lynne’s face was slightly reddened in indignation from Gelgar’s joke, “We’re at the table! You can’t say things like that!” The response only succeeded in drawing laughter of varying volumes from each person at the table, even Annie chuckling quietly in spite of herself. That small show of happiness did not go unnoticed by Nanaba, who smiled warmly at Annie which prompted the teen to look away in embarrassment, making Nanaba chuckle even more.  
****************  
 _Warmth, a sudden heat, an intense and painful hunger, the face of a man with closed eyes and a peaceful expression coming closer before vanishing in a flash of red. Another burst of heat, and then a small fall onto the wet and cold ground. Finally, a hazy view of the bloody remains of the man who she saw before, who she had killed._  
With a sudden gasp, Krista sat up straight in her bed and hit her head on the bunk above hers, causing her to let out a small cry and clutch her head in her hands. The images from her dream continued to flash through her mind, the same images she had been picturing since the night after they all joined the Scouts. “Krista?” Ymir’s voice was a welcome sound, as was the sight of her looking at her from the top bunk, long brown hair hair still tied up in her signature ponytail. Seeing the state of the petite girl, Ymir immediately clambered down from her bed and knelt beside Krista’s, her height allowing for her head to be just below the blonde’s, “What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing, nothing I’m alright. I just hit my head,” Krista replied hastily, eager to bring the focus off of herself, “Ymir, you didn’t sleep with –“  
“Bullshit it’s nothing,” Ymir cut Krista off with her usual harsh tone, but her hands went to Krista’s in a physical show of her concern, “tell me what happened.”  
“I just hit my head, that’s all!”  
“What made you hit your head?”  
“I had a bad dream, it’s not-!”   
“What was the dream about?”  
“Hey, I like watching a good lover’s spat as much as the next girl, but could you guys keep it down?” A slightly older woman whose blonde hair was wildly messed up from sleep lifted her head slightly from the top bunk next to Ymir and Krista’s beds, “Not everyone’s awake yet.”  
“Sorry!” The interruption was much appreciated by Krista, who took the opportunity to get up and hurry to her small cubby to retrieve her clothes and gain some distance from Ymir, who got up and did the same on the opposite side of the bed, tossing a glance over at Krista every few seconds, “you don’t need to worry about it Ymir, I’m fine!”  
“First of all, it’s my job to worry about you,” Ymir teased, smirking over her shoulder at Krista, “second of all, I can tell something’s bothering you.” Krista opened her mouth to reaffirm that nothing was the matter, “But! I won’t force you to talk, I’ve never done that before, have I?”  
“No, you haven’t, and thank you for that Ymir.” Ymir hummed in reply as she put on her signature grey shirt, Krista pulling on her boots as she reminisced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yu Mi Ku Ri is L I F E *^*^*^* I realized halfway through this that "Krista's" reaction to Annie's memory was never told, so put in some canon queens~ Please share and leave kudos if you enjoy!! My next year of school starts tomorrow but hopefully Chapter 14 won't be delayed! Hopefully
> 
> Edit: Added Eren's dream and a touch of comedy. To make up for my absence which I am terribly sorry about!!


	12. Soldiers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it's been three months, not that long right..? Ahaha, ha... Here's the chapter, rated Y (Yurikuri)

Year 849

Winter on a desolate mountain range within Wall Rose, a howling blizzard has enveloped the landscape. All light had been snuffed from the sky and the slopes were covered in an increasingly thick layer of snow. Despite the harsh conditions, three members of the Southern 104th Trainee Corps were slowly trekking down one of the mountains. Two young women walked, the smaller of the two dragging a comatose young man in a sleeping bag. “Krista,” The taller of the two, Ymir, spoke. “Just give up.”  
“No.” Krista’s response was curt and definite.  
“Come on… Daz is half-dead, he had no idea whether he could do it.” Silence from her companion, Ymir continued; “he took on training he could never finish just to raise his score. This is as far as his abilities can take him.” Though many could see Ymir’s uncensored speaking as inappropriate due to her comrade’s condition, Krista had grown used to it after knowing her for over a year. “If we keep walking at this snail’s pace down to the base…” Looking around, Ymir searched for some type of light to give their somber march a direction, “there’s no way he’ll make it. We’ll be in danger too. We won’t see the sunrise. So, we have two choices.”  
Adjusting her scarf tighter around her face, Ymir’s voice was muffled but audible to Krista over the sound of the wind. “Leave Daz behind and the two of us survive, or the three of us die together.” Even without asking, Ymir knew of Krista’s personality well enough to predict the coming response, “Which one?”  
It took a moment for Krista to reply as she was thinking over what Ymir had said. “The third choice,” Her tone carried the same tone as before, a solid drive towards her goal. “You’re misjudging our situation, I’m going to reach the base camp, and Daz will be saved.” Even as she said this, the small-bodied teen let out a grunt of effort as she dragged Daz over a fallen branch. “Of course, you can go ahead to safety.” Krista knew Ymir enough to know she would not leave, but she did not appreciate Ymir’s negative attitude given their current situation. “How’s that? This way there’s no trouble for you.” Turning around, Krista shot Ymir as steely a look as possible despite her short breaths. “So go on ahead.”  
The pair continued walking through the forest, no noises but the howling of the wind, their footsteps and Daz’s body dragging through the snow, and Krista’s panting from her laborious task. Glancing over her shoulder, Krista looked at Ymir, who was a few paces behind her but still following her after their little spat, “Hey, what’re you doing?”  
“Hm?”  
“You’ll die if you don’t go, right?” Krista’s voice carried a soft concern, but her eyes were narrowed from her growing exhaustion. Her breathing had become heavier and more labored, “Hurry up… Go on ahead.”  
“Wha-?” Widening her eyes upon recognizing Krista’s condition, Ymir pulled down her scarf to make herself heard. “Why aren’t you asking for my help? You’re body’s like a little kid’s. You know I’ve got a better chance.” Again, Ymir’s bluntness was truthful but only succeeded in frustrating Krista further, “Can’t you see it’d be faster for me to pull him?” No response came this time, _”So that’s how it is, eh?”_ Picking up her pace, Ymir caught up to Krista, “Your plan isn’t about saving Daz at all, is it?”  
Ymir had seen clear through Krista’s ruse, and she knew it. Pulling down her scarf, she opened her mouth as if to object, but was cut off. “You just said that I would die. So, you must realize that you’re going to die at this rate too. You were thinking of die here like this, weren’t you?” The stunned silence from Krista confirmed Ymir’s thinking, “Right? And, you wanted to entrust unto me the legend of ‘Krista the Goddess.’ Or,” The volley of emotions Ymir felt at that moment led to her becoming more forward, more hostile, “am I just overthinking this?” Leaning in closer, Ymir’s voice became a drawl, “This is wrong~ You’re a good girl, Krista. You’ve got to at least pretend to be interested in saving this man enough to ask me for help.” Again, Ymir’s correct accusations led to silence from Krista, “Right?”  
“Just because you want other people to think of you as someone who’d literally die for another…” Ymir’s lips were so close to Krista’s ear that her breath, turned to a white smoke by the frigid air, blew into Krista’s face. “Dragging someone else to his death just for that, only a bad girl would do that, right?”  
Balling her fist, Krista bit her lip in frustration. Ymir was right, but she would never admit that. Reaching up, she pulled Ymir down by the front of her jacket to face her, “You’re wrong! I was not thinking, I…”  
With a tired, bored expression Ymir asked the question she had wanted to ask since she had first met Krista. “It’s you isn’t it? You’re the mistress’s daughter who was expelled from the family.”  
Shock overtook Krista’s features and she looked down to avoid Ymir’s accusing eyes, _”How did she know about that..?”_ When she met Ymir’s gaze again, her eyes were watery from withheld tears, the cold stung her cheeks as a lone tear fell down her flushed face. “How do you know..?”  
“So, I’m right…” In spite of saying this, Ymir’s tone softened, “It was you.” To respond to Krista’s question, Ymir continued; “I just happened to overhear it at a church in the interior. Back when I used to ‘borrow’ people’s valuables to survive. What a rough story…” By now Ymir’s tone had returned to normalcy, “You were in line to inherit a real high-up position, you were a descendant by blood but there was a dispute whether an illegitimate child could be heir. They said killing you would solve everything… But instead, you were sent away to live a humble life under a fake name.” Remembering the two Wallist priests and how they talked about Krista caused Ymir to press her lips together angrily and look to the side, “And that’s how the girl ended up being driven into the training corps.” Hearing how she had been discussed, Krista’s eyes widened and she clenched her torch stick tighter, “Don’t worry. I haven’t told anyone, and I won’t sell the information.”  
“So you joined the training corps in order to find me? And if you did… Then, why?”  
The question caught Ymir off guard and a hot redness flared up in her cheeks. Lucky for her, Krista failed to notice as both of their cheeks were already somewhat flushed from the bitingly cold wind. “I don’t know… Maybe, because we’re alike?”  
Krista did not understand what she meant by this, “What..?” Ymir averted her eyes, prompting Krista to press onward; “You mean our backgrounds?”  
“Well… In general.”  
Ymir’s vagueness confused Krista, “You became a soldier… Just for that?”  
“I’m not sure…” Shuffling her feet, Ymir thought it over for a moment. “No, it’s not that.”  
A hopeful idea crossed Krista’s mind, and she broke into a smile despite their situation and conversation. “Did you want to be friends with me?”  
Glancing back for a moment, the sunny expression on Krista’s face made Ymir’s cheeks sting even more and she promptly looked away again. “H-huh?! No way, definitely not.” Krista’s face fell at the response, Ymir’s tone was not harsh but her words still hurt. When she next spoke, her tone was decidedly harsher, “For starters, you and I aren’t on the same level! I happened to get a chance to live a whole new life, I was reborn as a new person! But when that happened, I didn’t hide my old name. Denying that I was born as Ymir would be the same as admitting defeat! I’m keeping my name as I live this new life, living is my way of getting revenge!! I’m going to be living proof that your fate isn’t decided at birth!”  
Ymir’s uncharacteristic outpouring of righteousness, coupled with the natural silence surrounding them left Krista speechless. Taking a step forward, Ymir towered over Krista and continued with accusation dripping from her lips, “So, what about you?! You’re going to kill yourself, the ultimate act of submission? Is that how much you want to please the people who treated you as a nuisance?! Why are you trying to hurt yourself? If your will is that strong then shouldn’t you be able to change your fate?!”  
Shivering from emotion rather than cold, Krista took a step back. Her will to save Daz had died and she now stood before Ymir frightened at both her outburst and the possibility that they would not make it to tomorrow. “I… I can’t, even now…” Without a word, Ymir turned and began walking towards something Krista could not see, “There’s no way that the three of us can make it back safely, is there..?”  
“There is.”  
“What?”  
Stopping next to a tree, Ymir looked beyond Krista’s field of vision, “That light. I can see the base, it’s right at the bottom of this cliff.” Turning around, Ymir pointed at Krista’s hardly-alive cargo. “We can drop Daz from here to down there.”  
The danger Ymir’s suggestion held made Krista look from her to Daz with wide eyes, “What?!”   
“If he’s lucky,” Ymir explained, “he’ll land somewhere people can see him. If he’s lucky.” Restating that phrase only emphasized the impossible odds of Daz’s survival. Looking at Daz with some amount of pity, Ymir sighed. “That’s the only option he has at this point. If we don’t hope for a miracle he’s just going to end up here as a frozen bagworm…”  
Ymir began to approach Krista and Daz. Fearing what she planned to do next, Krista took a step forward. “But he’ll die if he falls that far!” The expression contorting Ymir’s face made Krista hold her hands up and fall back to where she was before. Without any warning or explanation, Ymir cupped her forearm around Krista’s abdomen and lifted the unprepared teen clean off her feet.  
“Shut up!!” Krista let out a surprised scream as she tumbled down a small slope, snow flying everywhere as she fell. Grabbing the rope trailing out of Daz’s bag, Ymir shouted, “I’ll do it, you just go on ahead!”  
Skidding to a stop, Krista held her head and recollected her senses. Out of nowhere a bright light shone from the top of the hill, forcing Krista to shield her eyes, “Ah?!” Squinting under her arm, she heard a harsh scraping sound, like something large had clawed at the snow. “That’s…” Kneeling for a moment, Krista wondered fearfully at the fate of her comrades. Jumping up she grabbed her lantern and began to run back up to where Ymir and Daz had been, “Wait!!” She screamed at whatever may be up there, thoughts of wolves or a bear making her heart hammer her chest. A small rock jutting up from the snow made her slip and fall down, luckily right where Ymir had thrown her. The scene she saw next made her heart sink, “They’re both gone…”  
****************  
_”Please be there, please be there Ymir!!” Repeating this phrase over and over, Krista rushed towards the base after descending from the mountain. “Ymir?!” Looking around wildly, Krista gasped for breath.  
“Took you long enough,” The familiar snarky tone nearly made Krista collapse with relief. Turning to face the source of the sound, she saw Ymir sitting next to her lantern with her back against a small wooden fence. “I beat you here…” Ymir was also panting, and rubbed sweat from her brow as Krista approached her. Sighing loudly she admitted, “I really did something stupid…”  
“What about Daz?!” Krista stopped just feet short of Ymir, who looked up at her with an exhausted expression.  
****************  
Opening the log cabin’s doors, Krista let out a small gasp as the heat from a fireplace rushed to meet her. Both girls removed their hoods, and regarded Daz as he cried on the bed with one man attending him while the other wrote notes about his condition for scoring. Krista looked in awe at him, amazed at his being alive. Looking back from where she came, she saw the staggeringly high and steep cliff Ymir had planned to jump off. _”From that cliff..?”__ Closing the door, both teens stood in silence and stared at the dark, distant outline of the cliff. “You didn’t have any rope… And even if you did, that cliff…” Wondering if Ymir was listening or could even hear her, Krista raised her voice a small amount; “How’d you get Daz down from there?”  
Looking behind herself at Krista, Ymir breathed out heavily and a large puff of white smoke covered her face for a moment. “Fine. I’ll tell you, because it’s you. But,” Stepping with her left foot, she began to walk down the cabin stairs with Krista following, “you have to promise me.” Turning around with Krista still on the last step, Ymir remained the slightest bit taller than her, “When I reveal my secret, you’ll go back to living by your old name.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this is a full-out novelization of chapter 40: "Ymir." Am I sorry? No that chapter was amazing the hell? Fun fact; each piece of dialogue was actual quotes from my official copy of Attack on Titan volume 10! The only things I wrote were the thoughts (italicized) and the non-dialogue text. Everything else is Kodansha's, so there's that disclaimer! Please review and leave kudos if you enjoyed, and tell your friends, grandparents or anyone!

**Author's Note:**

> The stage has been set! For those wondering how "Krista" pulled off that trick, please refer to chapter 62 of the SnK manga where she did the same thing to another Shifter and revealed their locked-away memories. I'm at least 95% sure that is what really happened to Annie's father.  
> Feel free to comment and review!


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